Cairo
It was named Zawiya of Dheisha (astonishment), perhaps for the beauty of its motifs and their abundance or for its construction on part of the site of a Raba’ al Dheisha. It was established by Sultan Farag Ibn Barquq in 811 AH / 1408 AD by the governor Gamal al-Din Yusuf, and it consists of zawiya attached to it a sabil. The zawiya is currently located at the intersection of Taht al Raba' Street with Qasaba of Radwan. However, that was not its original location. In 1917, there was a need to open new streets reaching the gate of Zuwayla and to facilitate traffic on Taht al Raba' Street. For that reason, it was decided to move the zawiya to the back. The project of moving the zawiya started in 1922 and ended in 1923.Since then, the zawiya has settled at that location.
The zawiya has four façades; the northeast is the main façade, and it is divided into two parts: the first one has the entrance and the founding inscription of the zawiya on its sides, and the second part is the sabil façade.
The entrance leads to a vestibule with two doors; one leads to the sabil, while the other one leads to a bent passage that opens into a rectangular space ending with the prayer hall. The sabil consists of a square room overlooking the street with two sabil windows covered by metal grilles, at the heart of the sabil room there is a marble shazrawan for purifying the water that flows from five holes above it, to the rounded basin below. The sabil is distinguished by its wooden ceiling and marble tiles that adorn the area above the shazrawan.
The prayer hall is a rectangular space, its southeastern wall has a magnificent mihrab with its marble motifs. On both sides, there are two wooden windows above it arched recesses. It also contains a koutbia (wall closet) made of wood to store books inlaid with mother-of-pearl and ivory.
