Sheikha Hossneya Mosque comes back to life

CAIRO – 1 March 2018: Renovation works at Sheikha Hossneya Mosque in Shali, Siwa Oasis, will be resumed, said general manager of the Alexandria and Matrouh antiquities area Mohamed Metwally, declared in a press release on Wednesday .

Shali is a small ancient city in Siwa, which dates back to 1206 A.D. It was constructed to act as a shelter for the oasis and protect it from any entrenchment. It is located 306 kilometers southwest of Marsa Matrouh. Shali means “city” in the old Siwan language.


FILE- Renovation works at Sheikha Hossneya Mosque in Shali-Egypt Today


Sheikha Hossneya Mosque does not only have a remarkable religious, historical and archeological importance, but it also has social importance, as it was the one and only media center for the desert city, through which news, weddings and deaths were announced. It also serves as a witness to the unity between easterners and westerners.


FILE- Renovation works at Sheikha Hossneya Mosque in Shali- Egypt Today

The mosque was named after a Moroccan woman with the same name who had passed by the city and donated a sum of money for the construction of the mosque. It dates back to Shali’s creation date.


FILE - Sheikha Hossneya mosque in Siwa Oasis, Egypt Today

Siwa Oasis is located in western Egypt between the Qattara Depression and the Egyptian Sand Sea in the Western Desert, nearly 50 kilometers east of the Libyan border. It is one of Egypt’s most isolated communities, with a population of about 33,000 people.


FILE - Sheikha Hossneya mosque in Siwa Oasis, Egypt Today


Its fame lies primarily in its ancient role as the home to an oracle of Ammon, the ruins of which are a popular tourist attraction that gave the oasis its ancient name.