Al-Qaṣr

El Qasr stands at the foot of limestone cliffs in the Dakhla Oasis, amid the gardens and springs of Egypt's Western Desert. Its close-built mudbrick houses and narrow lanes preserve the form of an old oasis settlement. The mosque of Nasr al-Din, with its tall minaret, dates to the Ayyubid period. Houses from the Mamluk and Ottoman eras bear carved wooden lintels, recording the long life of the community beyond the Nile Valley.