The Ancient Egyptian City of Cairo

Situated on the River Nile, Cairo is Egypt’s largest city and home to 20 million people. The ancient cities of Memphis and Heliopolis are located in its geographical area.

Located near the Nile Delta, the city first developed as a settlement founded after the Muslim conquest of Egypt in 640 next to the ancient Roman Fortress of Babylon. It is the centre of the region’s political and cultural life and is entitled the “city of a thousand minarets” and its historic centre was awarded World Heritage Site in 1979. It also has the oldest and largest cinema and music industry in the Arab world as well as the world’s second-oldest institution of higher learning, the Al-Azhar University. Many international media, businesses and organisations have regional headquarters in the city and the Arab League has had it’s HQ there for most of its existence.

Friday 19 May - a huge day ahead of us today. We had to be on our bus by 0555 hours for our visit to Cairo, a 3 hour drive from where we are docked in Port Said at the end of the Suez Canal on the Mediterranean sea (and by the way, we have already noticed a substantial drop in the temperature!).

There were a number of coaches leaving for various tours today and due to the government’s stipulation on security, each coach not only had it’s own security guard on board, but also had police escorts. We had a police car and outrider all the way to Cairo, complete with flashing red and blue lights – oh we are so important!

Port Said is poor and there is a lot of rubbish everywhere, so we were happy to be just driving through on our way out. A long journey, it was pretty flat and not a lot of interest enroute, but at least the road was good and relatively empty once we had negotiated our way out of the port.

Our first stop was at the Citadel of Saladin, a medieval Islamic era fortification built by Salah ad-Din and the largest citadel in the Islamic world. It was the seat of government in Egypt and the residence of its rulers for nearly 700 years from the 13th to 19th Centuries. Near the centre of Cairo it commands a strategic position on a promontory of the Mokattam hills overlooking the city and dominating its skyline. It is a preserved historic site and includes mosques and museums.

We visited two out of three mosques in the Citadel, the first was the Al-Nasir Muhammad Mosque which was built in 1318 during the early Bahri Mamluk period as the royal mosque of the Citadel where the sultans of Cairo performed their Friday prayers. It’s Friday today and the weekend for Muslims, so when we arrived there it was very quiet, in between prayer time, and apparently not busy on Friday’s until the afternoon. Unlike most other mosques in Cairo, it’s outer walls are not panelled and have no decoration except for a crenellation (similar to city or castle walls) composed of rectangles with rounded tops. It has a rather austere appearance which is probably accounted for by the military nature of its setting. There are two minarets, both built entirely of stone, one of which is unique in Cairo as it has a garlic-shaped bulb.

Our second visit was to the Mosque of Muhammad Ali which was built between 1830 and 1848, but not completed until 1857. The architect was Yusuf Bushnak from Istanbul and it was modelled on the Sultan Ahmed Mosque in that city. Muhammad Ali Pasha was buried in a tomb in the mosque. Outside was a very elaborate building for Muslims to do the required washing of themselves before prayer. It was interesting to hear why they kneel on their mats before praying…ritual purity is extremely important for Muslim prayers and Prayer Mats provide a protective layer between the worshipper and the ground, protecting clothing from anything that is polluted. The main material of the Mosque is limestone sourced from the Great Pyramids of Giza. It was built with a central dome surrounded by four small and four semi-circular domes and the 365 lights placed on huge metal rings were exquisite. It was awesome inside, especially compared to the Al-Nasir Muhammad Mosque.

We had the most amazing view of Cairo city from the top of the Citadel – and could just make out the shape of the pyramids in the distance – I took some photos but I don’t think they are clear enough for you to see.

Back in the coach we drove through Cairo city, a mixture of modern and very, very old crumbling buildings. The government are trying to rehouse people but because they have lived there for years and love their locations, but most don’t want to move. It is also estimated that anywhere between 500,000 and 1 million poor Egyptians live amongst the graves. mausoleums and tombs in a 4 mile long cemetery which has led it to be dubbed the City of the Dead. Other interesting sites along the way were the clay potteries, many bustling markets, particularly the bird market in the Khalifa district which is held every Friday and is where merchants breed and sell their birds. There was just so much to see, so much action, so much traffic, but on the whole the roads are good with a lot of flyovers which gave us a birds-eye (excuse the pun) of a lot of the action underneath.

Next stop was the old town and two churches. The first being the Hanging Church, named for its location above a gatehouse of the Roman Babylon Fortress. It’s nave is suspended over a passage and the church is approached through a courtyard decorated with modern biblical designs with 29 steps to the entrance, so it is dubbed “the staircase church” The land surface has risen by about 6 metres since the Roman period so the tower is mostly buried below ground. Inside we were able to see through some glass floor panels exactly how it hangs over the ground. It is one of the earliest churches in Cairo and dedicated to the Virgin Mary and is estimated to have been built between 690 – 692.

The second church was the Cavern Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus Church where it is traditionally believed to have been built on the spot where the Holy Family, Joseph, Mary and the infant Jesus, spent 6 months living in the crypt underneath at the end of their journey into Egypt whilst Joseph worked at the fortress. We were able to go downstairs and see this crypt which is 10 metres deep and when the Nile levels are high, is often flooded. The baptismal font for children was absolutely beautiful and was opposite a sunken, tiled space which acted as the baptismal font for later adult converts.

A walk through the old town of Cairo and it was time for lunch – and what a delicious one it was. We visited an old Riad named Hotel de Charme and walked up to the Zeeyara Restaurant on it’s 5th floor, passing some beautifully furnished rooms en route, and were shown up to the rooftop for the most exquisite Egyptian fare all laid out beautifully on each table. Everybody did it justice, not just for the taste but also because it was 1.30pm and we had been on the go since 5.30am!

Following this we went for a walk through Khan el-Khalili, the famous bazaar and souq in the historic centre. It is one of Cairo’s main attractions and home to many Egyptian artisans and workshops involved in the production of traditional crafts and souvenirs. Several coffeehouses and street food vendors are in the market and we really enjoyed our visit to Khedr el Attar a shop established on Al-Moez Street in 1945. It was so authentic, coffee, spices, nuts, oils and skin care with the intense smell of incense wafting around us as we examined the glass jars (and also noted a few dead bats hanging down – and meant to be there – for sale????).