Eng. Sayed Farouk – CEO & Chairman of the Arab Contractors Company, received Ambassador Khairat Lama Sharif - Ambassador of Kazakhstan to Cairo. The chairman welcomed the ambassador and praised the relations between Egypt and Kazakhstan.
The Ambassador of Kazakhstan thanked the Arab Contractors Company for its efforts in the restoration project of the archaeological Al Zahir Baybars Mosque, which comes within the efforts of the Egyptian government represented by the Ministries of Awqaf, Tourism and Antiquities, and their constant follow-up to the development and restoration of the mosque after its condition worsened due to a lack of attention to it for periods of time.
The meeting was attended by the Consul of Kazakhstan in Egypt, Dr. Mohamed Youssef – AC’s Board Member, and Eng. Amani Khodeir – Head of Africa Project Follow-Up Sector.
It is noteworthy that at the beginning of the project, the company removed the weeds in the mosque, cleared the underground water passages, replaced the pink bricks in the portico columns with clay bricks from which the mosque was built, and strengthened the foundations of the columns and the pulpit, with careful restoration of some areas to reach the original shape and preserve its historical characteristics.
It is worth noting that the mosque consists of an exposed middle courtyard and 4 iwans, the largest of which is the qibla iwan on the southeastern side of the mosque, and its area is 3570 m2. It has 60 marble columns, in addition to 34 columns under the dome that bear the base on which the dome was built. As for the iwan on the northwest side, its area is 1040 m2. It was topped by a minaret and had 16 marble columns and an entrance in the stone facade. The iwan of the northeastern side is 880 m2, and it has 16 marble columns and an entrance in the stone facade. The iwan of the southwestern side is 880 m2, and it has 16 marble columns and an entrance in the stone facade.