Ismaili.NET - Heritage F.I.E.L.D.

At first sight, the Mausoleum of the Agha Khan in Aswan may appear to you as an austere and isolated building, on the west bank of the Nile River. Inspired by the architecture of the Cairo Fatimids, the structure is recognizable by its elegance and by its special use of pink granite. It was built at the request of the begum, wife of the Aga Khan III who died in 1957.The begum Aga Khan; who died in 2000, lived in the white villa below but closed the mausoleum to the public in 1997 to allow the deceased to rest in peace away from the bustle of the living.

Just before leaving Aswan to spend the summer in Cannes, Princess Yvonne Aga Khan, wife of the late Aga Khan gave a rare interview to YOUSSEF EL-DEEB

Shortly before his death in 1957, Sultan Mohamed Shah Agha Khan, spiritual leader of the Ismaili sect of Islam, chose as his resting place a solitary sand dune on the West Bank of the Nile at Aswan. Princess Yvonne Agha Khan, known as the Begum, a French national and the Sultan`s third wife, has cared for this tomb ever since, staying at their house nearby for six months of the year and spending the summer at their villa in Cannes.

The Aga Khan has announced a grant of $320,000 for medical equipment by the Om Habibeh Foundation, established by the Aga Khan's late step grandmother, Om Habibeh, Begum Sultan Mahmood Shah Aga Khan.Following a meeting with governor of Aswan, H.E. Samir Hasnain, the Aga Khan announced the grant as part of a series of new development initiatives to benefit the people of Aswan, says a press release.