Door of the Sultan Qalawun Complex

The marble Gothic gate of the hospital, madrasa (school) and mausoleum of Sultan al-Mansur Qalawun. It was brought to Egypt from the crusader church of Saint George in Acre by al-Nasir’s older brother, Sultan al-Ashraf Khalil. The three components of Qalawun’s complex were built in thirteen months between June 1284 and August 1285. These buildings, in a section of al-Mu‘izz li-Din Allah Street known as Bayn al-Qasrayn—Between the Two Palaces—provide the earliest monumental examples of the new styles and techniques brought to Egypt from Syria, and dramatically illustrate what was to become the hallmark of Mamluk architecture: imposing scale and profusion of ornament.

For more, see Caroline Williams's article ‘Trendsetter’ from Rawi magazine’s Issue 3 available online (link in details).