The Bab Zuweila is the only remaining southern gate in Islamic Cairo’s city walls. Even as late as the 19th century this imposing piece of Islamic architecture was still locked each evening. It is top...
A visit to the Beit al Suhaymi reveals a restored Mameluke mansion, perhaps the finest example in the whole of Cairo. Actually two separate houses built in 1648 and 1796 but since combined the house w...
Arguably the most important mosque in Egypt, the Al Azhar was founded in AD970 during the Fatimid Dynasty. Its university is said to be one of if not the oldest in the world being established in AD988...
Spreading out from the Citadel are two large cemeteries known as the Cities of the Dead. There is a strong tradition of living close to the dead in Egypt and the scarcity of housing in this huge city ...
Fishawi’s is an institution amongst locals and travellers alike. A traditional ahwa or coffee house it is tucked away in a back-alley on the edge of the Khan el Khalili bazaar in Islamic Cairo. Claimi...
Neighbouring the Mosque of Ibn Tulun is the Gayer Anderson Museum a complex of two old houses – one for the men, the selamlik, and one for the women, the haremlik. The women could cross from one to an...
Taking to throne at 11 years of age al-Hakim went on to become one of Egypt’s most infamous rulers. His bloodthirsty nature meant that all around him lived in a perpetual state of terror, not knowing ...
The oldest and largest mosque in Cairo built in the 9th century is the Mosque of Ibn Tulun. Originally designed by a Syrian Christian the original features of the mosque remain; later additions includ...
Said to contain the rarest and most valuable collection of Islamic art treasures in the world the Museum of Islamic Art is one of Cairo’s finest museums. Moved from the Al-Hakim complex in 1903 the mo...
Hidden away in Islamic Cairo is the Street of the Tentmakers, or Sharia al-Khayamiya. Here the huge sections of fabric are woven together in a tapestry of colours to produce the decorative screens use...
