Medical Institutions

Bimaristan al-Mansuri

BEE-mah-ris-tahn al-man-SOO-ree

Also Known As Al-Mansuri Hospital

Citation Formats

General Reference

Medicine Atlas. "Bimaristan al-Mansuri." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://medicine.interactiveatlas.org/institutions/bimaristan-al-mansuri.

APA Style

Medicine Atlas. (n.d.). Bimaristan al-Mansuri. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://medicine.interactiveatlas.org/institutions/bimaristan-al-mansuri

BibTeX

@misc{medicineatlas-bimaristan-al-mansuri,
  author = {Medicine Atlas},
  title = {Bimaristan al-Mansuri},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://medicine.interactiveatlas.org/institutions/bimaristan-al-mansuri},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

Sultan al-Mansur Qalawun built the Bimaristan al-Mansuri in Cairo between 1284 and 1285 as part of a larger funerary complex including a madrasa and mausoleum. According to the historian al-Maqrizi, Qalawun took a vow to build it while he was ill and being treated at the Bimaristan of Nur al-Din in Damascus (the atlas's own Bimaristan al-Nuri), pledging to construct a comparable hospital if he became ruler of Egypt. The hospital, completed in under six months, provided drugs, shelter, food and clothing alongside medical treatment to the sick, poor and rich alike, with separate wards, four iwans, latrines, storerooms and a dedicated pharmacy; it operated for more than 500 years before being demolished in 1910, and its site is used today as an ophthalmology hospital.

Facts

Founding Year

1284 1

Cross-Tradition Connections