- Cairo
- /
- view
- (12)
-
Egypt
Over the last few years they have been gradually renovating Al-Muizz street in the heart of Islamic Cairo.
Al-Muizz street is over a kilometer long, but the northern stretch from the busy Al-Azhar street to the old gate of Bab Al-Fotouh is the place to be.
Walk this section of the street at night and the mosques and madrassas are lit up beautifully. Young couples and families will be sitting on the benches and you can join them or the late-night shoppers from the Khan El Khalili.
Walk and talk; the renovation has been controversial in its manner and style - see for yourself and decide.
You can get in to many of the mosques along the street and sometimes the 'key master' will even let you climb the tower to give an amazing view of the historic district.
Shari'a Al-Muizz Il-Din Allah
Al-Muizz street crosses Al-Azhar street at the foot bridge near Midan Hussein.
The National Protectorate closest to Cairo is on the fringes of the southern city suburb of Maadi, built during the 1920s and now home to a large number of expats. Wadi Degla is an ancient river bed that was gouged out of the rock 60 million years ago, leaving marine fossils and dried waterfalls behind in this desert landscape.
Walk between the high cliffs along the flat valley bed, or take a quick scramble up the right-hand side of the Wadi just after the gate. From the top of the cliffs you get views over the southern and eastern parts of the city, stretching over to the pyramids. At the weekend you’ll share Egypt’s ‘Grand Canyon’ with walkers, joggers and picnicking families.
Get the Metro to El Maadi station and then take a taxi. Ask for Wadi Degla in Zahraa el Maadi. You may need to specify you want the Protectorate, as there is a sporting club housing an Egyptian premiership football team called Wadi Degla as well! Look out for the brown signs to follow when you are on the Autostraad.
Wadi Degla costs 5LE to enter and is open from sunrise to sunset. Bring plenty of bottled water, and don’t forget your binoculars.
The church of Saint Samaan is beautiful and any visit to it will be a moving one. The huge cave that holds the church has been carved out of the Moqattam hills that overlook Cairo on the eastern edge of the city.
Moqattam is home to a large Coptic Christian community who collect the city’s rubbish and sort it by hand for recycling. There are various charity projects running in the area to help this marginalised community make a fair living. The Association for the Protection of the Environment (APE) is one of them, and they can organise visits into the area to see the church and their workshops where they produce recycled paper and cloth goods.
www.garbagedreams.com/
www.ape.org.eg/
cavechurch.com/home/index.asp
* Alip is our Been there local for Cairo. Her page is here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/cairo-local-alice-allsop.jsp and you can follow her tips directly here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/alip
The National Protectorate closest to Cairo is on the fringes of the southern city suburb of Maadi, built during the 1920s and now home to a large number of expats. Wadi Degla is an ancient river bed that was gouged out of the rock 60 million years ago, leaving marine fossils and dried waterfalls behind in this desert landscape.
Walk between the high cliffs along the flat valley bed, or take a quick scramble up the right-hand side of the Wadi just after the gate. From the top of the cliffs you get views over the southern and eastern parts of the city, stretching over to the pyramids. At the weekend you’ll share Egypt’s ‘Grand Canyon’ with walkers, joggers and picnicking families.
Get the Metro to El Maadi station and then take a taxi. Ask for Wadi Degla in Zahraa el Maadi. You may need to specify you want the Protectorate, as there is a sporting club housing an Egyptian premiership football team called Wadi Degla as well! Look out for the brown signs to follow when you are on the Autostraad.
Wadi Degla costs 5LE to enter and is open from sunrise to sunset. Bring plenty of bottled water, and don’t forget your binoculars.
Bab Zuweyla is in the heart of Islamic Cairo, but actually marks the Southern gate of the old city (Bab meaning “gate”). The gatehouse has been restored, but the original arch and towers remain inside. You can enter the building to see the old gate, swing mechanism (including what are claimed to be the earliest examples of ball bearings in the world!), pottery and other fragments found by archaeologists. The main reason to visit, though, is to climb the gate towers to get a great view over this historic district of Cairo.
Your first pause for breath is at the top of the gate, where you can walk around at roof-level and peer down onto the streets below as boys cycle with balanced racks of bread on their heads, and women hang out their washing from the windows or on roofs that are also home to the family goat or pigeon coop. Then climb the dark and narrow spiral staircase in either of the two towers, to the first or second balcony and even braving the final few metal rungs if you have a head for heights and nerves of steel. Up here you can see the Citadel and Al-Azhar park, and can continue to marvel at daily life as it goes by like a busy scene in Where’s Wally.
Sharia Mu'ezz li-din Allah Darb al-Ahmar
Google map: bit.ly/vmYJBz
You'll easily spy the Revolving Restaurant if you are in downtown Cairo and look up - it's the tall building on the Nile which looks like a UFO has landed on top of it. It's not nearly as futuristic once you've made the ear-popping lift journey up to the 44th floor, but it is just very sleek.
If you really want to splash out then you can have dinner in the restaurant, but a more affordable way to enjoy the view of central Cairo is by having a drink in the bar on the floor below the restaurant. They have a minimum charge, but two or three drinks will usually meet it.
The best time to go is just before sunset as you'll see the sun going down behind the pyramids, and the city lights coming alive.
1089 Corniche El Nil, P.O. Box 63 Maglis El Shaab, Garden City 11519, Cairo, Egypt
+ 20 (2) 2791-7000
Google map: bit.ly/u89og6
It's a huge sprawling cemetery in the centre of Cairo, which is inhabited (I guess squatted is the correct term) by around 1 million people. It is incredible to see, and it gives a closer idea of the conditions of living of a huge number of inhabitants of this amazing city.
Impossible to miss it really, it is near the Citadel of Cairo.
My favourite part of Cairo is the area where the tentmakers work. It is about a kilometre walking from the Khan el-Khalili market. It is the walk there that is full of unbelievable experiences. You walk down a busy, narrow road teeming with Cairo life. People are friendly and helpful and will often show you things that boggle the mind. It is a route that is laden with surprises that embody the richness of the city's history. You walk past buildings that have been there for thousands of years, mosques, momorials and one of the old gates to the city. Climb the towers of the old gate and get wonderful views over the city. Stop and explore, listen and follow your nose. You could spend months in this area, be constantly fascinated and still not see everything. Eventually you'll find the tentmakers in an area that is brimming with atmosphere and people whose skill at making complex geometrically-designed appliqued tent panels is awesome. I found a 70-year old man who had been hand-sewing these panels his whole life and he had such a sense of contentment about his life's work. I was inspired.
Walk down the road that passes the Khan el-Khalili, cross over the pedestrian bridge and find the alley that goes past the mosque on the opposite side of the road. Follow your nose for about a kilometre.
It's actually possible to escape the crowds and the noise in Cairo, although you have to put up with a lot of both on the way. I would recommend Beit el-Suhaymi, a wonderful, labyrinthine Islamic house-turned-museum where you can really picture how the large families used to live.
Before or afterwards take a stroll around the north of Khan al-Khalili market. Away from the hassle of the market stalls you see a bit of real innercity life. I am female and, being there on my own, I didn't feel hassled at all in this part. Be sure to respect their dress code though.
Another tip is go to the Mosque of Sulayman Pasha when at the Citadel. Around the Citadel itself, in particular the Muhammad Ali mosque, was very busy, but the simpler, smaller mosque felt like a peaceful oasis and has lovely mosaics.
Beit el-Suhaymi, Khan al-Khalili market and the Citadel are all located within the city centre.
The old Islamic quarter, known as Darb al-Ahmar, is great for a stroll through markets and stalls that feel like they haven't changed in five hundred years. Restoration work has been carried out on a series of mosques in this area which are architecturally stunning. I was lucky enough to be given an impromptu tour at night around one of them and the open roof revealed the stars. The Nile Hilton, not far from the Egyptian Museum (which is a must) has a rooftop bar which is definitely worth a visit for a drink overlooking the Nile at sunset. You don't have to be a hotel guest - just get in the lift and head to the top. One drink might be enough for some as it is not cheap but definitely worth the view.
Nile Hilton, 1113 Corniche El Nil, Cairo 12344.
Tel : 00 20 2 578 0444/ or 578 0666.
www.hilton.com
Sangria is a cool restaurant and bar built around an old tree on the banks of the Nile. Enjoy a view of Zamalek from the open terrace, which during winter months is well heated. The cuisine is mostly South-East Asian and the crowd tends to be mainly young and wealthy, judging by the posh cars in the restaurant carpark. It's a great place for a beer.
Sangria, Corniche El Nile.
Tel : +20 2 579 6512
On the opposite side of the road from the Conrad Hilton towards the Arkadia Shopping Centre.
Aka Borg al-Qahira, this 613-ft concrete erection in Zamalek became the subject of an Islamist fatwa in 1990, on the grounds that it might “excite women”. There’s an observation deck and revolving restaurant at the top. Choose a day when air pollution is low, or you’ll see next to nothing.
Entrance is to the north of the tower in Sharia el-Borg; open: winter, 8am-11pm daily, summer, 9 am-1am daily
Is this your business?Search Been there
