© Lonely Planet Publications 107 Cairo CAIRO Let’s address the drawbacks first. The crowds on a Cairo footpath make Manhattan look like a ghost town. You will be hounded by papyrus sellers at every turn. Your life will flash before your eyes each time you venture across a street. And your snot will run black from the smog. But it’s a small price to pay, to visit the city Cairenes call Umm ad-Dunya – ‘the mother of the world’. This city has an energy, palpable even at three in the morning, like no other. It’s the product of its 20 million inhabitants waging a battle against the desert and winning (mostly), of 20 million people simultaneously crushing the city’s infrastructure under their collective weight and lifting the city’s spirit up with their uncommon graciousness and humour. One taxi ride can span millennia, from the resplendent mosques and mausoleums built at the pinnacle of the Islamic empire, to the 19th-century palaces and grand avenues (which earned the city the nickname ‘Paris on the Nile’), to the brutal concrete blocks of the Nasser years – then all the way back to the days of the pharaohs, as the Pyramids of Giza hulk on the western edge of the city. The architectural jumble is smoothed over by an even coating of beige sand, and the sand is a social equalizer as well: everyone, no matter how rich, gets dusty when the spring khamsin blows in. So blow your nose, crack a joke and learn to look through the dirt to see the city’s true colours. If you love Cairo, she will love you back. HIGHLIGHTS Tip your head back and gape at the Pyramids of Giza ( p143 ); cross an item off your life list Give your regards to Tutankhamun and Egyptian Museum his cohorts in the mazelike Egyptian Al-Azhar Park Museum ( p185 ) Islamic Cairo Visit the great medieval mosques of Islamic Cairo ( p125 ) – or just get lost in the narrow alleys ( p155 ) Relax to the click of backgammon and the bubble of the water pipe at an Egyptian coffeehouse, or ahwa ( p169 ) Escape the city noise in the greenery of Pyramids of Giza Al-Azhar Park ( p140 ) with its splendid sunset view TELEPHONE CODE: 02 POPULATION: 20 MILLION (APPROX) 108 CAIRO •• History lonelyplanet.com HISTORY the annual flooding of the Nile. When the Cairo is not a Pharaonic city, though the pres- French-educated Ismail came to power, he ence of the Pyramids leads many to believe was determined to remake his capital into a CAIRO CAIRO otherwise. At the time the Pyramids were built, city of European standing. This could only the capital of ancient Egypt was Memphis, be done by starting afresh. For 10 years the 20km southeast of the Giza Plateau. former marsh became one vast building site The core foundations of the city of Cairo as Ismail invited architects from Belgium, were laid in AD 969 by the Fatimid dynasty, France and Italy to design and build a but the city’s history goes further back than new European-style Cairo beside the old that. There was an important ancient reli- Islamic city. gious centre at On (modern-day Heliopolis). Since the revolution of 1952 the popu- The Romans built a fortress at the port of lation of Cairo has grown spectacularly – On, which they called Babylon, while Amr although at the expense of Ismail’s vision. ibn al-As, the general who conquered Egypt Building maintenance fell by the wayside for Islam in AD 642, established the city as apartments were overcrowded. In the of Fustat nearby. Fustat’s huge wealth was 1960s and 1970s, urban planners concreted drawn from Egypt’s excessively rich soil and over the sparsely populated west bank of the taxes imposed on the heavy Nile traffic. the Nile for desperately needed new sub- Descriptions left by 10th-century travellers urbs. In more recent decades, growth has tell of public gardens, street lighting and crept beyond Muqattam Hills on the east buildings up to 14 storeys high. Yet in the and the Pyramids on the west. Luxe gated 10th century, when the Fatimids marched communities, sprawling housing blocks and in from modern-day Tunisia, they spurned full satellite cities, complete with malls and Fustat and instead set about building a new megastores, spring up from the desert every city. year: 6th of October City, New Cairo and Construction began on the new capital, others are the new Egyptian dream. Whether probably on purpose, when the planet Mars the desert and the economy can sustain them (Al-Qahir, ‘the Victorious’) was in the as- remains to be seen. cendant; thus arose Al-Madina al-Qahira, ‘the city victorious’, which Europeans corrupted ORIENTATION to Cairo. Finding your way around Cairo’s sprawl is not Many imposing buildings from the Fatimid as difficult as it may at first seem. Midan Tahrir era remain today: the great Al-Azhar Mosque is the centre. The noisy, busy Downtown area, and university is still Egypt’s main centre of where most cheap eating and sleeping op- Islamic study, and the three great gates of Bab tions are, lies northeast of Tahrir, centred on an-Nasr, Bab al-Futuh and Bab Zuweila still Midan Talaat Harb. Midan Ramses, location straddle two of Islamic Cairo’s main thor- of the city’s main train station, marks the oughfares. The Fatimids were not to remain northernmost extent of Downtown. Beyond long in power, but their city survived them are teeming middle- and working-class sub- and, under subsequent dynasties, became a urbs such as Shubra, perhaps the true soul of capital of great wealth, ruled by cruel and modern-day Cairo. fickle sultans. This was the city that was called Downtown’s eastern edge is Midan Ataba, the Mother of the World. where Islamic Cairo takes over. This is the Cairo finally burst its walls, spreading west medieval heart of the city, still beating strong to the port of Bulaq and south onto Rhoda today. At its centre is the great bazaar of Island, while the desert to the east filled with Khan al-Khalili and Al-Azhar Mosque and grand funerary monuments. But at heart it university. Further east are the Northern and remained a medieval city for 900 years, until Southern Cemeteries, vast necropolises now the mid-19th century, when Ismail, grand- inhabited by both the living and the dead. son of Mohammed Ali, decided it was time South of Midan Tahrir, the tree-lined streets for change. During his 16-year reign (1863– of Garden City are prime embassy territory. 79), Ismail did more than anyone since the Then you’re out of central Cairo and into Fatimids to alter the city’s appearance. a succession of ramshackle neighbourhoods Before the 1860s the future site of modern loosely termed Old Cairo, the site of Roman central Cairo was a swampy plain subject to Babylon and Arab Fustat. Buried in here is lonelyplanet.com CAIRO •• Information 109 CAIRO CAIRO CAIRO IN… Two Days Start day one with the magnificent exhibits at the Egyptian Museum ( p185 ). When you’ve reached Pharaonic overload, leave the museum and wander around the Downtown area, stopping to grab a cheap and delicious lunch at At-Tabei ad-Dumyati ( p162 ). In the afternoon, make your way to historic Khan al-Khalili ( p128 ) and practise your haggling skills with the cheerful stall own- ers. While there, don’t forget to have a mint tea and a sheesha (water pipe) at Fishawi’s ( p169 ). Return Downtown to eat a simple but delicious Levantine meal at the long-running Greek Club ( p163 ) or dine like a pasha at Zamalek’s glamorous Abou el-Sid ( p166 ). On day two make an early start and hire a taxi for the day to take you to Dahshur ( p206 ), Memphis ( p196 ) and Saqqara ( p200 ). Bring a picnic to eat at the foot of the Step Pyramid ( p201 ) or have a late outdoor lunch at Andrea ( p167 ). In the afternoon visit the only remaining Ancient Wonder of the World, the Pyramids of Giza ( p143 ). After this, it’s on to the Citadel View ( p165 ) in Al-Azhar Park for a lavish dinner overlooking the medieval city. Four Days For days one and two, follow the Two Days itinerary. Start day three by taking a taxi to the Mosque of Ibn Tulun ( p138 ) and the Gayer-Anderson Museum ( p138 ) in Islamic Cairo. Indulge in a bit of shopping at Khan Misr Touloun ( p176 ) before catching a taxi to Midan Hussein to visit historic Al-Azhar Mosque ( p127 ) and the Al-Ghouri Complex ( p133 ) before stopping at Abd el-Zaher ( p176 ) and Al-Khatoun ( p176 ) to buy a stylish souvenir or two. Have a late lunch at Egyptian Pancakes ( p165 ) in the Khan al-Khalili, then rest up before strolling through Garden City at twilight ( p155 ). At sundown, take an hour’s felucca ride ( p154 ), then head to dinner at Estoril ( p163 ); if you’re up for more, cap it off with a beer at the Odeon Palace Hotel bar ( p170 ). On your last day take the river bus to Coptic Cairo ( p123 ) in the morning, then catch the metro back to Midan Tahrir. Walk over the Qasr el-Nil Bridge to Gezira and check out the Museum of Modern Egyptian Art ( p141 ) and the Mahmoud Mukhtar Museum ( p142 ) before strolling along the bank of the Nile to the neighbourhood of Zamalek for a late lunch at one of its many cafés and restaurants, and perhaps some shopping. After a rest at your hotel, bid farewell to the city by having a late dinner and watching the best belly dancers in the world shake their stuff on the Nile Maxim boat ( p174 ) or at the wonderfully sleazy Palmyra ( p174 ).