Around Bab el-Futuh

In the Islamic quarters of Old Cairo there are mosques, palaces, caravanserais and Koranic schools. In this area little visited by tourists there is however evidence of life as it is lived by the ordinary people of Cairo – the tradesmen, street sellers and craftsmen.The two monumental gateways, Bab el-Futuh (Gate of Conquests) and Bab el-Nasr (Gate of Victory), mark the northern edge of Fatimid Cairo. Between the two lie the remains of the fortified wall which once encircled the city and which still gives the impression of invulnerability. Beside the Gate of Victory stands the El-Hakim Mosque, built during the first years following 1,000 AD. A place of worship for a mainly Indian Shiite sect, it was extensively restored with concrete and marble in 1980 losing much of its restrained beauty in the process.
Leading away from the front of the mosque is Mouizz el-Din Allah Street, lined with magnificent Islamic monuments. On Dahab Street, one of the first streets on the right, stands Beit el-Souhaymi, former residence of a seventeenth-century El-Azhar sheik, which gives an idea of the splendour of dignitaries’ houses in the Mameluk period. Mouizz el-Din Allah Street leads to the El-Aqmar Mosque (1125) and the fourteenth-century madrasa (mosque school) of Sultan Barkuk.

City centre

On the east bank of the Nile, between Tahrir and Ataba Squares and Ramesses Station lies the centre of modern-day Cairo. Europeanised since the mid nineteenth century, this quarter was built along the same lines as Haussmann’s Paris: the streets are broad and meet at right angles and rococo apartment buildings with stucco mouldings were considered the height of modernity. This area also conceals some architectural gems dating from the early nineteenth century.
Along Talaat Harb Street, Qasr el-Nil Street and the Avenue of the 26 July, enormous painted posters advertise films currently showing in the cinemas. On Thursday evenings, the citizens of Cairo crowd the pavements of this window-shopper’s paradise. There are fabric remnant shops, clothes and shoe shops as well as major department stores, such as City Star, excellent pastry shops, fashionable fast-food outlets and belly-dancing cabaret clubs. The crowds are a mix of tourists and students from the American university. On leaving the main thoroughfares and entering the amazing alleyways of Khan El Khalili, the visitor can discover small restaurants and workaday cafes where men in suits and ties come to smoke their nargileh and drink their extra sweet tea away from the bustle. Tahrir Square (Liberation Square) in the heart of the city represents Cairo as a whole. An oriental-style building houses the American University. An enormous, semi-circular building, the Mogamma, houses several government departments. A visa extension might require a visit to this building in which case a cold beer to follow on the terrace of the Nile Hilton is sure to be appreciated.

pyramid

Cairo’s underground – the fourth pyramid
Over a million passengers travel daily between Choubra el-Kheima in the north and Helwan in the south on its smoothly operating trains. A second line linking the two banks was opened in 1998 and has been extended as far as Giza.

The Islands of Gezira and Roda

The Islands of Gezira and Roda
A lush, green oasis sheltered from the manic pace of the rest of the capital, the island of Gezira in the middle of the Nile is home to the residential quarter of Zamalek as well as to sports clubs, the new opera house and the Cairo Tower which at 185 m tall dominates the city. Site of numerous embassies and chosen for its tranquillity by many foreign residents, Zamalek seems to live at its own pace. When tired of traffic jams and crowds in the popular quarters, the visitor can come here to stroll peacefully along shady streets bordered by villas with an old-fashioned charm. The island of Roda shelters the Manyal Palace, former residence of the son of the Khedive Tewfiq, Mohamed Ali, and today transformed into a museum. Nestling on the banks of the Nile and protected by a rampart made to look like fortifications, the former royal residence is surrounded by a magnificent garden full of rich vegetation.

City of the Dead

The City of the Dead, without question one of the world’s largest necropolises, covers several square kilometres at the foot of Moqattam cliff. It contains the plain stone tombs of ordinary people and grandiose mausoleums which are the resting places of emirs and sultans, some dating from the fifteenth century. The living inhabit small, two or three-roomed houses built during the nineteenth century for the purpose of watching over the dead in accordance with a ritual dating back to the pharaohs. When finding accommodation in Cairo became a challenge, the poorest people headed for these “villas” which had the great advantage of offering space and quiet. Anyone keen on Mameluk architecture will want to visit the two mausoleums of Qaitbay and Barkuk in the northern part of the necropolis (El-Khalifa).