The mosque of Amr ibn Al-Asa was laid in 641-642 in the new capital of Egypt - Fustat, this building was the first Muslim temple in the country. The site chosen for the mosque was the tent of the occupation army general Amr ibn Al-Asa.
According to legend, the site of the temple was chosen by a bird. Commander-in-Chief Amr's tent stood on the east bank of the Nile, in the southern part of the delta, and shortly before the decisive battle, a dove laid an egg inside. After the victory, the general chose where to establish a new capital, declared the egg a sacred sign and made it the centre of his new city, Misr al-Fustat ("Tent City"). Later, the Amr Mosque was built here.
The original structure was rectangular in plan - 29 x 17 metres. It was a low house with an earthen floor, with supports made of split palm trunks, the main material of the walls were stones and mud bricks, the roof was covered with date leaves. Inside there was no mihrab, no orientation to Mecca and no decorations. There was also no minaret, and the building had two doors - north and east.
The mosque was completely rebuilt in 673, during the renovation four minarets were added and the size of the structure was doubled. In 698, the religious structure was again expanded to roughly double its size. The rebuilding and changes continued until 1169, when the building, along with the entire Fustat, was burnt down. The fire was set by order of the Vizier of Egypt to avoid giving the city to the crusaders. Ten years later, the area was conquered by Nur al-Din's army and the mosque was rebuilt. For several centuries the mosque performed its functions, undergoing minor repairs, restoration after earthquakes, and small alterations.
In the 18th century, one of the Mamluk leaders, Murad Bey, ordered the dilapidated mosque to be demolished and transformed. At this time, the number of pillars with writings was reduced from seven to six, the orientation of the aisles was changed, and the minarets, which have survived to this day, were added. In 1875, the mosque was rebuilt again. In the 20th century, during the reign of Abbas Helmi II, the mosque underwent another restoration, and in the 1980s the entrances were partially renovated.
The few ancient parts of the mosque's structure that can still be seen along the southern wall were added during the reconstruction in 827. Today, the religious structure incorporates elements of Greek and Roman buildings, and has 150 white marble columns and three minarets. Its simple design consists of an open space surrounded by four rivaks (galleries), the largest of which is an arcade with a qibla.
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