A Walk through Islamic Cairo

The second to last day of our trip was focused on the UNESCO world heritage site of Islamic Cairo. The description "Islamic" is a bit misleading, since most people in Cairo (and all of Egypt) are Muslim. It refers to the old part of the city that was established in 969 as al-Qahira. There were cities in the area prior to that time, including the ancient capital of Memphis and medieval Fustat, but Islamic Cairo contains the greatest concentration of historic buildings in the city. We had strolled through some of this area in passing after visiting Khan el Khalili at night, but hadn't taken a deep dive yet. We started on a cold and windy Friday morning, first taking an Uber down to a new development called "The Platform" in Maadi, an upscale neighborhood on the south side of Cairo. The Platform is a nice area right alongside the Nile, with a number of restaurants. We had a nice brunch at Baladina. It was a bit chilly but we warmed up with cappuccino, sahlab, hot chocolate, nutella and banana feteer, and spicy tamiyya.

Hot drinks and yummy feteer.

It was a chilly, windy, rainy morning.

A cappuccino was perfect for the weather.

The platform has a nice location along the Nile.

After brunch, we took an Uber to the southern end of Islamic Cairo, the Fatamid city surrounded by walls built in the 11th and 12th century. We started outside the walls, walking along the Darb al Ahmar, the main road that ran south of the city walls, which is still lined with monuments from the 14th and 15th centuries. We walked through the surrounding neighborhood, which was bustling since it was Friday around mid-day prayers. We passed the Aqsunqur mosque, built in 1347, the mosque and madrasa of Umm Sultan Sha'aban with its interesting red and white striped facade, and the 14th century mosque of Al Maridani, which was being actively restored and preserved. Finally we passed the 1481 mosque of Qijmas al Ishaqi, which is featured on Egypt's 50 pound banknote. This area is packed with historic sites and is definitely worth visiting.

Parts of the neighborhood have been recently upgraded - note the new paving stones.

It's an active neighborhood, with shops and bustling streets.

A lot of the old buildings have impressive facades and domes.

Walking down the street there's one impressive mosque after another.

Arches and entrances.

Make sure to look up to appreciate all of the details.

The impressive mosque and school of Umm Sultan Sha'ban.

Good to see restoration on these historic buildings.

Fresh bananas were really common in Egypt, and very cheap.

As was fresh meat...

Pretty cool to be at a site important enough to be on the 50 pound banknote!

Continuing north, we passed through the tentmaker's market, a covered souq dating back to 1650, before entering the old city walls through the Bab Zuweila (11th century southern gate). The stretch of road within the city walls is know as Muizz Street, and is considered by the United Nations to have the "greatest concentration of medieval architectural treasures in the Islamic world." It's about a kilometer long, and is lined with mosques, schools, baths, and public fountains from medieval times. Many of them have been restored and preserved, and the street itself has been upgraded and is now pedestrian-only. It's one of the highlights of Cairo if you have any interest in architecture or the history of the city.

View from the tentmaker's market toward the southern gate (Bab Zuweila).

The gate is topped by the 15th century minarets of the mosque of Sultan al-Muayyad.

Looking up from inside the city wall.

Bab Zuweila has amazing views across all of the minarets of Muizz street.

View towards the citadel.

David on one of the minarets.

The spiral stairs up the interior of the minarets get a bit dark.

Views from the top - the dense clutter of Islamic Cairo.

There's also a great view into the adjacent mosque.

Paul and Thomas on the minaret.

Paul would have climbed to the very top, but we convinced him otherwise.

Bab Zuweila is a great site to visit in Cairo. There's a small entrance fee, and it's worth it for the commanding views from the roof and minaret. Inside there are also some small exhibits and information about the history of the structure. We were the only tourists there.

From the gate, we continued north along Muizz street, passing the restored Ottoman public water fountain (sabil) of Mohammed Ali Pasha, and the school (madrasa) of Sultan al-Ghuri, which spans both sides of street. At this point a modern road with a fence blocks the way forward, so we veered off to the east, passing Al Azhar mosque and taking a pedestrian tunnel under the road to Khan el Khalili. We stopped for some mint tea at Fishawi, a cafe dating back to 1773.

Sabil of Muhammed Ali Pasha. People would get free water through the screens.

The al-Ghuri complex towers above the street.

Al Azhar's intricate facade and minaret.

An elaborate gate on the narrow street behind Al Azhar.

Not the first, nor the last, dog we saw sleeping on a car.

Zeinab Khatun House, an Ottoman era courtyard house.

The numerous minarets of Al Azhar.

The interior of Fishawi. It's popular with both tourists and Egyptians and is incredibly atmospheric.

Fresh mint in sugary tea - an Egyptian staple!

After our tea at Fishawi, we joined back up with Muizz street and continued walking north through the most impressive portion of the street, nicknamed bain al-qasrain ("between two palaces"). If you visit only one place in Islamic Cairo, it should be this section, which is easily combined with a visit to Khan el Khalili. There's one ticket that lets you in to all of the historic buildings along the street, which is well worth it so you can visit the elaborate and well preserved interiors.

The first major building you come across is the massive Qalawun Complex, a 13th century mausoleum, mosque, school, and hospital. It's the largest and one of the best preserved of the buildings along this street. The interior has intricate carving and painting, soaring spaces and intimate courtyards. It's a great place to wander and reflect. Immediately north is the 14th century mosque of Sultan Barquq, which is equally impressive. It has a spectacular ceiling and a beautiful courtyard.

The Qalawun complex.

The interior of the Qalawun complex, with soaring arches.

There are details everywhere, like this inlaid stone pattern on a wall.

The dome of Qalawun's mausoleum.

The beautiful carved and painted writing and designs along the walls.

A cat sleeping in the courtyard.

The "tree of pearls" mosaic in Qalawun's mosque.

For a little change of pace, the old school toilet in the Qalawun Complex. Don't worry, they had a modern toilet too!

The astounding carved wooden dome above the fountain in the courtyard of the mosque of Barquq.

Beautiful painted ceiling in the mosque of Barquq.

Impressive arches and lots of details.

David in the main section of the Mosque of Barquq.

There were a number of atmospheric passages.

Thomas and David in one of the passages.

If there isn't a coffee table book called the "Doors of Cairo" there should be.

After visiting all of the Qalawun complex and the mosque of Barquq (there are multiple entrances, all of which have a sign), the next stop was Hammam Inal. It's a restored bathhouse from 1456. There's not too much to see, but it's one of the few surviving bathhouses in Cairo. There's also a nearby textile museum and a restored 14th century house, we skipped both and continued on, passing another Ottoman water fountain and the mosque of al-Aqmar ("the moonlit"). There's also a small welcome center that is mostly just shops, but has a neat model of Muizz street. The final monuments we walked by were the El-Selehdar mosque (from 1839), the Al Hakim mosque (from 928), and finally Bab al-Futuh, the northern gate to the old city.

The elaborate sabil of Abdel Rahman Katkhuda.

The entrance portal to Al aqmar, "the moonlit" mosque, completed in 1125.

The model of the street in the visitor's center.

A lively side street.

Another cute cat!

Al-Hakim has the oldest original minarets in Cairo

Bab al-futuh, one of the northern gates (completed in 1087), includes re-used pharaonic stones.

After visiting Islamic Cairo, we took an Uber towards downtown to stroll around and visit Cafe Riche, a century-old cafe that used to be popular with writers and revolutionaries. From there, we met up with our friend Alex for dinner at Crave on Zamalek. Non-Egyptian food restaurants here tend to have a very broad menu and Crave had everything from steaks and sandwiches to pizza and pasta. The food here was just ok (as is common with "western" restaurants in Cairo), but the restaurant was very modern and the interior was very nice.

Downtown has lots of nice 19th century buildings! Not all in this good shape, unfortunately.

We enjoyed a couple beers at Cafe Riche.

Another oddly rainy day in Cairo. This pedestrian street was recently upgraded.

Lentil soup at Crave.

After dinner, we stopped by Drinkies before the four of us went to the AirBnB to hang out for the evening. With one more day in Cairo we had to make sure we planned some interesting sights and meals!