Ibn Tulun is the quiet old-timer of Cairo, a vast mosque built between 876 and 879 by a governor who rose from Turkish slave soldier to master of Egypt and founder of a short-lived dynasty. Ahmad ibn Tulun sent his architects to create something in the style of the Abbasid capital at Samarra in Iraq, and what they made is a huge rectangular courtyard surrounded by arcades of pointed arches in brick and stucco, with carved plaster ornaments that still look sharp after eleven centuries. It is the oldest mosque in Cairo to survive in its original form, and one of the largest in the Islamic world by area.
The minaret is the thing you remember. A spiral staircase winds around the outside of a tower that rises from a square base, in a form that echoes the great spiral minarets of Samarra. The climb is worth every step, since the top gives a view across the courtyard and over the rooftops of the old quarter toward the Citadel. A legend, repeated by guides, says that the mosque was built on the very mountain where Noah's ark came to rest; the story is charming and has no evidence behind it, but the hill on which the mosque stands is indeed a bit higher than the surroundings. A small museum next door, in two joined old houses, is a fine place to see how wealthy Cairenes lived in the Ottoman period.
Riding here, honestly, is an exercise in humility. Cairo is a city of more than seven million, and its streets are crowded with minibuses, tuk-tuks, donkey carts, pedestrians and horns, with lane markings treated as suggestions. If you ride a motorcycle in the city, plan routes with care, avoid the rush hours, and expect to be the smallest thing on the road. Many travellers prefer to leave the bike and take a taxi for the old quarter, where the lanes are narrow and parking is difficult.
Fuel stations are plentiful in the city and cheap by European standards, and the streets around the mosque have small cafes, bakeries and stalls serving tea and fresh bread. The best time to visit is early in the morning or late afternoon, when the light on the brick is warm and the courtyard is calm. Cover your shoulders and knees, and take off your shoes at the door. The air smells of dust, spices and baking bread, and the call to prayer echoes across the rooftops at dusk.