Protection & Repair

Project Abstract
Group 7 (Mostafa A. Farouk, Mohamed K. Aly, Ibrahim El-Nimr, Marwan, Leithi)

Al – Azhar Mosque
Al-Azhar Mosque in Cairo, Egypt, is a landmark of Egyptian and Middle Eastern culture and
religion. The mosque that was constructed in 970. The name Azhar is called after the Daughter
of Prophet mohamed Fatimah az-zahrá. Al-Azhar Mosque is the first mosque to be established
in Egypt’s Capital, Cairo. Originally, the mosque dimensions are 85 by 69meters with a prayer
hall of five aisles parallel to the qibla. The mosque, like other Islamic monuments located in
heavily populated areas in Cairo, was suffering from environmental factors including air
pollution, a high subsoil water level, a high level of humidity the adverse effects of the 1992
earthquake. Accordingly, repair and restoration work had to be carried out for this mosque.
Restoration was funded by Saudi Arabia’s Government and the fund was 30 million Egyptian
Pounds. The durations of the repair was 4 years with the main contractor being Saudi Binladen
Group with Sub-Contractor Aswan contractors for repair . The repair works included wood
structural repair such as strengthen the foundations, crack repair and architectural repair such
as wood, stucco and stone repair. In this research, the different repair methodologies that were
applied are to be discussed.