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UNESCO, the cultural wing of the united nations, includes Islamic Cairo on its select World Heritage list, which puts it on par with the Pyramids, the Great Wall of China, and Venice. It is a historic area that contains the greatest concentration of medieval Islamic monuments to be found anywhere. The skyline is a spiky signature of minarets and domes, reflecting a time when Cairo was the wealthiest capital in the world.
Islamic Cairo is the term for the part of the city that dates back to before the development of the new European quarters-modern-day central Cairo. Because the word “Islamic” is unfortunately at times associated with terrorism, the Egyptian authorities are now promoting the less emotive term “Fatimid” Cairo. This is valid, given that the core of the area is the fortified city founded by the Fatimids in AD. 969 (see pp. 98-100). The walls that once ran around the city are long gone, but hundreds of monuments still line the traditional historic thoroughfares. These range from modest streetside marble fountains to splendid stadium-size mosques, equal to Europe’s great cathedrals in scale and beauty. _ In age, they cover the spread of Islamic history from the 10th century to the 19th.
Unlike historic districts elsewhere in the world that have been preserved, sterilized, and pickled, Islamic Cairo makes few concessions to the visitor. It has not been able to afford to. Lying at the heart of the metropolitan area, it is home to a dense let-century population still living in what are essentially medieval quarters. Plumbing and sewer systems gave up long ago, and those who could afford them moved out. This is now one of the poorer areas of the city. When you encounter a printing shop cranking out flyers on hand-operated presses, this is not part of a heritage industry-the antique machinery survives because there is no money to replace it. The decay and neglect may be sad, but as a consequence, Islamic Cairo retains a Vital human presence, making it something more than a mere open-air museum.
PLANNING YOUR VISIT
Islamic Cairo covers an area of several square miles and exploring it could occupy days, if not weeks. Fortunately, there are several key clusters of buildings, all conveniently located along one linear route. This stretches perhaps a mile and a half (2.5 km) in length and can be walked end to end in an hour, but there is so much to see that it is better to pace yourself and, if time allows, make several visits. Begin at Khan al-Khalili, the extensive bazaar at the heart of the area. With its miles of lanes, alleys, and cul-de-sacs, cruising the Khan requires a day in itself, though you could combine it with a visit to the neighboring Al-Azhar Mosque. Your next trip could take in the Northern Walls and include visits to Al-Hakim’s Mosque, Bayt a1Suhaymi, and the three great Mamluk complexes on Bayn a1Qasreen. A third expedition might begin at the Al-Ghouriyya and involve a walk down to Bab Zuwayla and the Tentmakers’ Market. Non-Muslims are welcome ‘ to visit any Islamic monument
other than the Al-Hussein Mosque beside Khan al-Khalili. The only stipulation is that footwear must be removed. In some cases, tie-on cloth covers are provided to slip over your shoes. To avoid giving offense, dress modestly. A headscarf is not necessary, but women must not be dressed in shorts, short skirts, sleeveless tops, or dresses. Men should wear long pants.
KHAN AL-KHALILI
To reach Islamic Cairo from downtown, you can walk half-mile (1 km) from Ataba Square along crowded Muski Street, or just take a taxi and be whisked along the Al Azhar overpass. Either way you end up around Al-Hussein Square, on the fringes of one of the world’s oldest shopping districts, the bazaar of Khan al-Khalili. This is Cairo at its most frenetic and seductive: the Cairo of Ali Baba and Aladdin, loud with the sound of bargaining. Salesmen hiss and beckons. Boys glide about with trays of tea. Everything sparkles and glitters least until you get it home, where the luster quickly wears off. Merchants have been trading on this site since at least the 14th century. In 1384 an emir named Al-Khalili built a great khan here, a three-story hostelry intended to accommodate traveling merchants and their wares. Buyers visited the khan for the goods brought in on the merchant caravans, and the selling and bartering spread to the streets around. Al-Khalili’s khan was demolished in the 16th century, but by then the area had become firmly established as the city’s commercial center. The earliest surviving parts of the bazaar today are several great stone gateways that date back to the 1500s. To an extent, the type of goods on offer has changed surprisingly little over the centuries. The slave market closed in 1870, and no longer does you find silk, jewels, or diamonds, but cloth remains important. The aroma of spices is very much present on Al-Muizz Street, where stalls are heaped with variously colored powders and sacks of seeds and pods. Farther east on the same street, coppersmiths hammer out platters and tureens and create coffeepots and enormous crescent-shaped tops for minarets. However, it is unlikely that medieval citizens of Cairo would recognize the stuffed leather camels, alabaster pyramid paperweights, and their ilk that pile the stalls in the central section of the bazaar.
Whatever you are buying, expect to bargain. It is a ritual of the bazaar, equally applicable to local Egyptian customers and foreign visitors. There are no hard-and-fast rules except one, which is that if you do not bargain, then you will certainly end up paying seriously over the odds. One tip: If you see something you like, check the price of similar items at other stalls. Armed with an idea of relative values, you can go back and bargain more effectively. Keep your maximum price fixed in mind, and if the shop owner will not meet it, you can always walk away.
For a respite from the sales patter, retreat to Fishawi’s, Cairo’s Oldest and most celebrated coffeehouse. Its rickety wooden chairs and tall, copper-topped tables line a narrow alley one block north of Al-Hussein Square. Huge, heavy-framed antique mirrors adorn the walls. It is open 24 hours and really comes to life late in the evening when most visitors have left and the place returns to the locals. (For more on coffeehouses see pp. 110-11). One famous regular here was Egypt’s Nobel Prize-winning author Naguib Mahfouz, He grew up in the neighborhood and later held weekly literary 3 gatherings in a back room heavy § with the sweet smoke from the sheeshas, or water pipes, that many Egyptians smoke. Around the corner is an upscale tourist café named after Mahfouz; its air-conditioned interior is a world away from all that he wrote about, but it is a good place for a lunchtime snack when sightseeing. and for freshening up. The Khan al Khalili Restaurant in the same building is an atmospheric choice for dinner.
To see what Al-Khalili’s khan might have looked like in its original state, cross Al-Azhar Street via the pedestrian underpass at A1Hussein Square and pay a Visit to the Wikala of aI-Ghouri. A wikala is essentially a larger version of a khan. At one time Cairo possessed more than 350 such structures, but of the handful left today this is in the best condition by far. Enter through a high, decorated gateway into the central courtyard where the caravans would have unloaded. Goods were stored and animals stabled on the ground floor, while the merchants took rooms above. Those rooms now serve as ateliers and workshops for local artists, some of them open to the public. Local handicrafts also are sold here.
As you leave the wikala, turn right and follow the road past a small open-air fruit and vegetable market, and then to the left. You are now walking in the shadow of the towering walls of one of Islamic Cairo’s most important buildings.
Kindly check our Islamic Cairo Tours
1- Islamic Cairo Private Day Tour
