Ottoman interest in European art, especially the Baroque and Rococo, began in the 17th century. Ottoman sultans were keen to introduce European elements into the decorative and minor arts and into architectural edifices, such as mosques and palaces. Adoption of the Western style increased in Egypt and elsewhere during the 18th and 19th centuries, as the Ottomans tended to commission European architects, builders and decorators whose constructions and the ornamentation of them was splendidly inspired by the Baroque and Rococo, and which are characterised by spiral and curving lines rather than straight edges. Protruding cornices formed of acanthus leaves replaced the Islamic muqarnas in some mosques, palaces and sabils (water fountains). The known principles of Baroque and Rococo came into practice in Egypt, which was at that time one of the provinces under the Ottoman Empire. The French Expedition to Egypt in 1798–1801 contributed further to the diffusion of European influences evident mainly in the capital city of Cairo.