Al Azhar Mosque and University

I've been looking forward to seeing Al Azhar mosque and university for awhile now. From what little I remember from my Islamic Art & Architecture class at BYU, I believe Al Azhar is as highly regarded as the Hagia Sophia in Turkey and the Great Mosque of Samarra in Iraq. Mostly because of the madrasa or university which has been an important center for Islamic learning for centuries now.

The double minaret on the right distinguishes Al-Azhar from other mosques around here. It's also the minaret we climbed.


One thing I noticed was a lack of Western tourists. Most of the others visitors were Muslims.

There were a lot of people there studying the qu'ran.






This was my best attempt at getting the boys to sit still and look studious. Fail.

Teichert and his Egyptian girlfriend. I really hate using my flash but this was too cute to miss.








We climbed a very steep and very dark minaret to get a better view.






A better view of... lots of rooftops filled with garbage.

Ike learned the hard way not to throw rocks off the top of the minaret. They just bounce back off the balcony and hit you in the face.