Planning of the remaining Islamic religious foundations in the Delta during the Mamluk and Ottoman periods, A Comparative& analytical study

Religious buildings of various styles and functions were constructed in the Delta cities of Egypt during the Mamluk and Ottoman eras. Such Mosques, Madares and Zawaya were remained in the cities of Alexandria, Damietta, Al Mahalla Al Kubra, Tanta, Samannoud, Disouq, Mitt Ghamr,Al  Mansoura, Rosseta,Foaa and Abyaar

The historical sources and references abound with many references that shed light on the cities that were included in these cities during the Mamluk and Ottoman eras , and the religious and urban renaissance they witnessed.
The delta remaining religious foundations have some general features that can be summarized in the following points:
1- The buildings of the cities and villages of the Delta, with their different architectural styles and functional purposes, have in common the fact that they are not ( sultans )royal buildings like most of the buildings of the city of Cairo. In Cairo, such as Al-Kashef, for example. As for the vast majority of the types of these buildings, they are civil buildings built by the people of those cities of different classes, including merchants, Sufis, clerics, and others.
2-The many endowments that the sultans and governors endowed on the Mamluks and their buildings in Cairo, in addition to the sultanate endowments and the diwans’ endowments, and most of these endowments were in the cities and villages of the Delta.
3-These buildings share the use of the elements of the local environment available from various building materials, such as bricks, and municipal wood, While stone and marble were rarely used because there were no quarries nearby.
4 – Buildings relied to a large extent on the architectural styles imported to it from the city of Cairo in terms of architectural units and elements, and the elements of external and internal formation with the difference in proportions and areas.
5- The large number of classes of artisans, including builders, carpenters, and others, and they move to work in the different cities of the Delta.
The planning of the religious cities and villages of the Delta relied mainly on the planning styles that came to them from the city of Cairo, in which the local Egyptian planning spread, which was built according to the pattern of its buildings during the Mamluk and Ottoman eras.
The research dealt with the study of the planning of religious buildings in the rest of the Mamluk and Ottoman eras in the cities and villages of the Delta.
This study focuses on several aspects that can be summarized in the following points:
First: - The importance of architectural planning for the religious facility as it is the focus of construction and design
Second: - Not separating planning from other architectural units and elements in the building. On the basis of planning, the features of the architectural formation are clear, where the pillars are placed, arcades and iwans are organized, and the locations of minarets, domes and other architectural accessories are allocated.
Third: The planning link with the building materials used in the different Delta buildings, which depended mainly on the elements of the available local environment.
In general, the research proved that the planning of the religious cities and villages of the Delta depended mainly on the local planning styles coming to them from the city of Cairo, in which the local Egyptian planning was spread, in which their buildings were built during the Mamluk and Ottoman eras, in addition to the fact that the Delta buildings were not affected by the Ottoman style coming to Egypt.