Al-Azhar Mosque & Al-Azhar Park

الجامع الأزهر وحديقة الأزهر

A thousand-year-old mosque-university, and minaret sunsets from a hilltop park

Hours

Mosque open daily outside prayers; check park hours on site

Tickets

Mosque free; park has a small fee (EGP 20 in 2019, likely higher now; check on site)

Address

On Al-Azhar Street opposite Khan el-Khalili; the park is about 1 km east, with its main gate on Salah Salem Road

Founded in 970, it is still one of the Islamic world's leading universities. Step into the white marble courtyard and you see five minarets from different eras at once, with students reading among the forest of columns. When the sun drops, move east to Al-Azhar Park, a centuries-old rubbish mound turned into gardens; past the lawns and fountains, the minarets of Islamic Cairo and the Citadel go dark against the sunset.