Abu al-Abbas al-Mursi Mosque

The Abu al-Abbas al-Mursi Mosque is the most important mosque in Alexandria, built around the tomb of a thirteenth-century Andalusian Sufi saint venerated by the city's fishermen. The present grand structure dates from the 1940s, designed in an Italian-influenced Islamic revival style with an octagonal plan, a high dome and a slender minaret in cream-coloured stone. It stands in the Anfoushi district near the eastern harbour, at the centre of a square of related shrines. Illuminated at night, it is a focal point of the port city.