Historic Cairo

WHS#62

Everyone who hears Cairo probably thinks of the Pyramids, and for good reason. The Pyramids of Giza are the biggest draw for tourists in Cairo, but Ancient Egyptian the heart of the city is not. It's a living Arab metropolis, and its heart is one of the most chronologically extensive and impressive Islamic cities in the world. The first mosque in Africa, Masjid Amr ibn al-As, was built here, and the Fatimids, Ayyubids, and Mamluks all ruled great Islamic empires from here. This is not a city that died with the pharaohs, but instead, one that thrived after them. It's the city of a thousand minarets, and that doesn't even seem to be an exaggeration! It's even a center of the Coptic Orthodox Church. And it's the bustling, crowded, polluted capital of the modern Egypt. Yes, Cairo is a crazy city with just as crazy a past, as I learned on my family trip to the Middle East in May 2018. The sad thing is that I almost didn't get to explore Islamic Cairo at all, as I had planned for the day to be taken up by Wadi al-Hitan, which I considered a greater priority. In a twist of fate, the police barred us from entry as it was low season and they couldn't assure our safety, but I wasn't discouraged. I realized that I could now explore 2 places that I had originally thought I couldn't due to the time constraints: Saqqara and Cairo itself. After …

A lot can be said about Historic Cairo and Cairo in general, but I will focus my review on the mosques of Islamic Cairo. I was in the mood for it: just before this trip I bought the book Mosques. Splendors of Islam and I recently re-visited Istanbul – famous for its exquisite Ottoman mosques - as well. Cairo, however, might be the best place in the world to see the architectural development of mosques: from the Samarran style to the designs favoured by the Fatimids, the Mamluks and the Ottomans.

Beforehand I had made a list of mosques from the different periods that I wanted to see: Ibn Tulun Mosque (Samarran) + Al Hakim & Al Azhar Mosque (Fatimid) + Sultan Hassan & Aqsunqur Mosques (Mamluk) + Muhammad Ali Pasha (Ottoman). Due to the considerable walking distances between them, I ended up only visiting the ones that I have underlined.

The first of these was the oldest: the Mosque of Ibn Tulun (879). It exemplifies the early tradition of the Arab-plan or hypostyle (“many columns”) mosque, with a spacious courtyard (“to accommodate the large number of worshippers during Friday prayers .. in the warm Middle Eastern and Mediterranean climates”) and a flat roof dominated by a single minaret.

From downtown, I first rode 2 stops southwards by metro to Saad Zaghloul station and then - with a map in hand – looked out for this mosque. I immediately walked in the right direction, but it still …

When my boss told me that I have to go to Cairo for short business trip during the Ramadan, while I felt really happy to visit Egypt, I had load of questions and concerns, not only from my assignments, but I had no idea what is do and don’t during the Islam fasting month, do I have to eat breakfast before sunrise? Or can I drink water in the meeting room, etc. etc. and as a World Heritage Traveler, do I have time to visit Historic Cairo and the Pyramids! I really interested to visit old Cairo, because this city is a treasure trove of Islam architectures. With a bit of luck, I managed to have half day city tour to visit Old Cairo in the afternoon. Bad news was most of attraction will be closed early around 3 PM because of Ramadan, so instead of focus on single monument complex like the Citadel, I decided to visit the historic Al Moez Ldin Allah Al Fatimi Street or shortly Al-Muizz which according to Wikipedia this street have the greatest concentration of medieval architectural treasures in the Islamic world.

I started my visit at the iconic Bab Zuwaila, the old south city gate, its thick wall and beautiful twin high towers were just great introduction of Cairo’s incredible art. With my great regret all the entrance to every attraction were already closed even before 3 PM, so I had no chance to see the interior courtyard of all those …

The winding streets of historic Cairo were a welcome change from the traffic congestion of downtown Cairo. When I visited in fall 2012, I spent one day visiting the Coptic section of the city and one day in the historic Islamic section. Nestled within the walls of an old Roman fortress in the southern part of Cairo are several Coptic churches, including the unique Hanging Church (suspended over a gatehouse of the fortress) and the St. Barbara Church, as well as the Greek Orthodox Church of St. George with its monastery; the enclave was quite a sight to see. The historic Islamic section of Cairo was a bit more spread out, and I started at the Citadel, with its impressive Mosque of Muhammad Ali and the older Al-Nasir Muhammad Mosque, before working my way north through narrow streets to the twin minarets of the Bab Zuweila (Zuweila Gate). The Khan el-Khalili market was a wonder to explore, as were the surrounding neighborhoods. Although I was unsuccessful in finding the childhood home of the writer Naguib Mahfouz, I really enjoyed the variety of Islamic architecture I passed along the way.

Logistics: Coptic Cairo may best be reached by taxi or by Metro (Mar Gargis station), while historic Islamic Cairo--the Citadel in particular--may be easier to reach by taxi before walking through the neighborhoods

When I was in Cairo in February 2015 I visited the Historical Cairo. Both the Islamic and Coptic part. The Islamic takes a day to see all for sure, the Coptic you not need a full day. It for sure was quiet everywhere, not many tourist. I like both places. Different religions mixed in a city does work as you can see here. Everything was in good state and easy to visit. We did have a guide to keep the touts away but on general we had no problems with touts. Did not get ripped off, did not get food "problems". I can recommend really everyone to visit Cairo, also now, it's perfectly safe to go! I used a guide from Egyptian Sidekicks; they are students and do not ask for tips and extra money. All fair and perfect service!

I visited this part of Cairo during my time in the US Army. It was 1998 and my fourth deployment to the Middle East. Cairo was almost overwhelming in its variety of impressions, sights, and just the sheer number of people. New Mexico, where I live, has roughly 10 people per square mile, or some other ridiculously low number. Cairo has about 170,000 (based on the figures I read). WHAT A DIFFERENCE!

Having said that, the historic section of Cairo is just beautiful, even though it is showing the wear and tear of the ages. Minarets, markets, mosques, tilework, colors, smells, people...I still get dizzy thinking about it.

I only wish I had done more research prior to my visit. It sometimes becomes a little difficult to determine the age of a building...which might cause you to miss something truly remarkable.

I can only say "GO!" if the opportunity comes your way.

I visited this WHS in March 2010. It is one of the world's oldest Islamic cities with several mosques, madrasas, hammams and fountains. The highlight of my visit was the Alabaster Mosque and its marble courtyard.

Historic Cairo with it's medieval layout , impressive mosques, and huge traditional market is fascinating. It's quite a large area and goes to show how important cairo was in the past. The mosques were imposing and unadorned. Worth a quick look.

I was still finishing some work when I - first time in my life - arrived in Cairo late one Dember evening. Following day, after having switched off the western world, I headed for the area named as “medieval Cairo”. Accompanied by the shop-keepers early morning routines of setting up their stands, filled with colourful fruits, raw meat and vegetables, I entered this “Arabian Nights”-look-a-like place through its northern gates and found myself suddenly in a world of its own filled with strange smells of spices, food, dirt and live animals. After having wondered around, visited a couple of mosques and fighting my way passed eager salesmen and beggars, I ended up in the Khan el Khalili bazaar for a touristy cup of coffee at the famous Fishawi Café. Though I could have easily bought myself dozens of carpets and other goods on my way, I continued down the Sharia El Muizz-street to the Tentmakers bazaar and later the gigantic Mamluk-mosques of Sultan Hassan & Ar-Rifai. A lunch at the Citadel ended a long promenade through a place where times seem to have stood still. It’s an almost magic place that you must not miss when visiting Cairo.

Egypt is famous for its ancient history, the age of pharaohs and pyramids up to Cleopatra and the Roman Conquest. What came later, after the rule of Rome and Byzantium, is less well known in our minds, but of course no less important for Egypt today. Arabs conquered the country in the mid-7th century, and ruled for a time from Alexandria. In the 10th century, they built a new city on the banks of the Nile that they called al-Qahirah, the Victorious. Today it is the largest city of both Africa and the Arab Countries, but it doesn´t figure prominently in most peoples´ travel plans. That´s partly understandable, since the place is incredibly crowded, dirty, smoggy, and an insult to your senses in general. However, you can get used to that (really!) and the place has at least two things to offer that have to be seen by everybody - the Pyramids, which are not that far outside Cairo, and the Egyptian Museum, one of the greatest museums I have ever seen. Other sights like the Khan al-Khalili Bazaar and the Ottoman Fortress are interesting as well, but similar to other places in different Arab cities. Hotels and restaurants are usually very good, so if you can hold your breath for a while, there is no reason not to go to Cairo.

My visit here was in 1995-long before the attacks of 9/11 that spooked Americans from traveling to the Middle East. Though not a Muslim myself, I was entranced by the exotic atmosphere that Cairo exuded. Perched in my hotel on an island amid the mighty Nile, it wasn't hard to picture the history that made this place what it is.