8.

The key attractions

Tahrir Square
Tahrir Square was founded during the mid 19th century with the establishment of modern
downtown Cairo. It was first named Ismailia Square, after the 19th-century ruler Khedive Ismail,
who commissioned the new downtown district's 'Paris on the Nile' design. After the Egyptian
Revolution of 1919 the square became widely known as Tahrir (Liberation) Square, though it
was not officially renamed as such until after the 1952 Revolution which eliminated the
monarchy. Several notable buildings surround the square including, the American University in
Cairo's downtown campus, the Mogamma governmental administrative Building, the
headquarters of the Arab League, the Nile Ritz Carlton Hotel, and the Egyptian Museum. Being
at the heart of Cairo, the square witnessed several major protests over the years. However, the
most notable event in the square was being the focal point of the 2011 Egyptian
Revolution against former president Hosni Mubarak.

The Egyptian Museum

The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, known commonly as the Egyptian Museum, is home to the
most extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities in the world. It has 136,000 items on

display, with many more hundreds of thousands in its basement storerooms. Among its most
famous collections on display are the finds from the Tomb of Tutankhamun.

Cairo Tower
The Cairo Tower is a free-standing tower with a revolving restaurant at the top. It provides a
bird's eye view of Cairo to the restaurant patrons. It stands in the Zamalek district on Gezira
Island in the Nile River, in the city centre. At 187 meters, it is 43 meters higher than the Great
Pyramid of Giza, which stands some 15 kilometres (9 miles) to the southwest.

Old Cairo
This area of Cairo is so-named as it contains the remains of the ancient Roman fortress of
Babylon and also overlaps the original site of Fustat, the first Arab settlement in Egypt (7th
century AD) and the predecessor of later Cairo. The area is also known asCoptic Cairo as it holds
a high concentration of old Christian churches including the Hanging Church, the Greek
Orthodox Church of St. George, and other Christian or Coptic buildings, most of which are
located over the site of the ancient Roman fortress. It is also the location of the Coptic Museum,
which showcases the history of Coptic art from Greco-Roman to Islamic times, and of the Ben
Ezra Synagogue, the oldest and best-known synagogue in Cairo, where the important collection
of Geniza documents were discovered in the 19th century. To the north of this Coptic enclave is
the Amr ibn al-'As Mosque, the first mosque in Egypt and the most important religious center of
former Fustat, founded in 642 AD right after the Arab conquest but rebuilt many times since.

Islamic Cairo
Cairo holds one of the greatest concentrations of historical monuments of Islamic architecture in
the world. The areas around the old walled city and around the Citadel are characterized by
hundreds of mosques, tombs, madrasas, mansions,caravanserais, and fortifications dating from
the Islamic era and are often referred to as "Islamic Cairo", especially in English travel
literature. It is also the location of several important religious shrines such as the al-Hussein
Mosque (whose shrine is believed to hold the head of Husayn ibn Ali), the Mausoleum of
Imam al-Shafi'i (founder of the Shafi'i madhhab, one of the primary schools of thought
in Sunni Islamic jurisprudence), the Tomb of Sayyida Ruqayya, the Mosque of Sayyida Nafisa,
and others.
While the first mosque in Egypt was the Mosque of Amr ibn al-As in Fustat, the Mosque of Ibn
Tulun is the oldest mosque to retain its original form and is a rare example
of Abbasid architecture, from the classical period of Islamic civilization. It was built in 876-879
AD in a style inspired by the Abbasid capital of Samarra in Iraq. It is one of the largest mosques
in Cairo and is often cited as one of the most beautiful. Another Abbasid construction,
the Nilometer on Rhoda Island, is the oldest original structure in Cairo, built in 862 AD. It was
designed to measure the level of the Nile, which was important for agricultural and
administrative purposes.
The city named Cairo (Arabic: al-Qahira) was founded to the northeast of Fustat in 959 AD by
the victorious Fatimid army. The Fatimids built a separate palatial city which contained their
palaces and institutions of government. It was enclosed by a circuit of walls, which were rebuilt
in stone in the late 11th century AD by the vizir Badr al-Gamali, parts of which survive today
at Bab Zuwayla in the south and Bab al-Futuh and Bab al-Nasr in the north.
One of the most important and lasting institutions founded in the Fatimid period was theMosque
of al-Azhar, founded in 970 AD, which competes with the Qarawiyyin in Fes for the title of
oldest university in the world. Today, al-Azhar University is the foremost center of Islamic
learning in the world and one of Egypt's largest universities with campuses across the country.
The mosque itself retains significant Fatimid elements but has been added to and expanded in
subsequent centuries, notably by the Mamluk sultansQaitbay and al-Ghuri and by Abd alRahman Katkhuda in the 18th century.

Other extant monuments from the Fatimid era include the large Mosque of al-Hakim, the alAqmar mosque, and the Mosque of Salih Tala'i.
The most prominent architectural heritage of medieval Cairo, however, dates from the Mamluk
period, from 1250 to 1517 AD. The Mamluk sultans and elites were eager patrons of religious
and scholarly life, commonly building religious or funerary complexes whose functions could
include a mosque, madrasa, khanqah (for Sufis), water distribution centers (sabils), and
mausoleum for themselves and their families. Among the best-known examples of Mamluk
monuments in Cairo are the huge Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Hasan, the Mosque of Amir alMaridani, theMosque of Sultan al-Mu'ayyad (whose twin minarets were built above the gate
ofBab Zuwayla), the Sultan Al-Ghuri complex, the funerary complex of Sultan Qaytbayin
the Northern Cemetery, and the trio of monuments in the Bayn al-Qasrayn area comprising
the complex of Sultan al-Mansur Qalawun, the Madrasa of al-Nasir Muhammad, and the
Madrasa of Sultan Barquq.
The Mamluks, and the later Ottomans, also built wikalas or caravanserais to house merchants
and goods due to the important role of trade and commerce in Cairo's economy. The most
famous example still intact today is the Wikala al-Ghuri, which nowadays also hosts regular
performances by the Al-Tannoura Egyptian Heritage Dance Troupe. The famous Khan al-Khalili
(see below) is a commercial hub which also integrated caravanserais (also known as khans)

Looking down from the Citadel at the Mosque of Sultan Hasan 2014

Al-Azhar Mosque; Fatimid courtyard and Mamluk minarets.

The streets of Islamic Cairo, adorned by Islamic architecture, are narrower and older than those
in the city centre

Ibn Tulun Mosque.

Al Hakim Mosque.

Bayt Al-Suhaymi Between (1648-1796).

The Citadel of Cairo

The Citadel is a fortified enclosure begun by Salah al-Din in 1176 AD on an outcrop of
the Muqattam Hills as part of a large defensive system to protect both Cairo to the north
and Fustat to the southwest. It was the center of Egyptian government and residence of its rulers
until 1874, when Khedive Isma'il moved to 'Abdin Palace. It is still occupied by the military
today, but is now open as a tourist attraction comprising, notably, the National Military Museum,
the 14th century Mosque of al-Nasir Muhammad, and the 19th century Mosque of Muhammad
Aliwhich commands a dominant position on Cairo's skyline.

Mosque of Muhammad Ali

The cupola of the mosque from the interior.

The Citadel of Cairo, with theMosque of Muhammad Ali above Cairo.

Khan El-Khalili
Khan el-Khalili is an ancient bazaar, or marketplace adjacent to the Al-Hussein Mosque. It dates
back to 1385, when AmirJarkas el-Khalili built a large caravanserai, or khan. (A caravanserai is a
hotel for traders, and usually the focal point for any surrounding area.) This original carvanserai
building was demolished by Sultan al-Ghuri, who rebuilt it as a new commercial complex in the
early 16th century, forming the basis for the network of souqs existing today. Many medieval
elements remain today, including the ornate Mamluk-style gateways. Today, the Khan el-Khalili
is a major tourist attraction and popular stop for tour groups.