had first appeared in the reign of Sultan Qaytbay (r. 1468-1496). Today visitors enter the building through a side entrance to the north on Sharia al-Azhar, instead of through the historic main portal on al-Muizz street. This leads to an internal open air-courtyard which gives access to the different parts of the complex and which formerly contained a graveyard for members of al-Ghuri's family. On the south side, behind a decorated façade with rows of windows and an elaborate cornice of muqarnas, is an enclosed maq'ad or qa'a, a reception hall. This hall was reserved for female members of the sultan's family when visiting the complex. To the southwest is the mausoleum chamber, while to the west is the khanqah. The khanqah is a T-shaped hall which was used for Sufi gatherings and ceremonies, namely such as the dhikr. It had a mihrab on its western side, with its own pattern of marble decoration. Marble dadoes along the lowers walls and marble pavements also decorate the hall. Although the waqf deed describes it as a khanqah, this part of the building lacked the traditional sleeping quarters and living accommodations that were traditionally part of khanqahs. (Although accommodations for staff did exist in the western building on the other side of the street.) A passageway from the khanqah leads to the sabil. The sabil chamber has a marble salsabil and a polychrome marble pavement displaying a dense composition of twenty-pointed geometric stars, one of the most elaborate examples of its kind in Cairo. A staircase leads to the kuttab on the upper floor. The mausoleum The attachment of the mausoleum to the khanqah instead of the prayer hall was a novelty in Mamluk architecture, and was likely a deliberate decision to allow the mausoleum to occupy a larger and more prominent space in the middle of the city. The mausoleum itself is a large square chamber covered by what was originally a brick dome, today replaced by a flat wooden roof. The dome had a diameter of 12.5 meters and its peak would have originally stood 36 meters high, comparable to the height of the minaret across the street, making it the third-largest dome of the Mamluk period. Its exterior was originally covered in blue tiles described as being of a "lapis lazuli" color. However, the dome was unstable from the beginning and had to be rebuilt at least twice after