Building in downtown with European architecture

Cairo, Egypt

Has many fine monuments to tour. Most of the monuments here and elsewhere in Egypt are not so difficult to identify. Most have one of several different types of markers and the more important have full descriptions. Therefore, walking through one of the historical areas, one does not necessarily need a guide, though certainly it helps.

The Modern City Tour Modern Cairenes consider the city center of Cairo to consist of the area bordered by the old city to the south, the Islamic Cairo to the east and the Nile River to the west, but this covers a number of different districts that are interesting to tour.

Islamic Cairo Tour The Islamic City is not the oldest section of the city, as that distinction belongs to old city. Western visitors many not wish to think in terms of Islamic here, but rather medieval. Indeed this area encompasses the medieval history from beginning to end.

Old (or Coptic) Cairo Tour This section of Cairo, Egypt actually predates the modern city itself to old Babylon and the Romans era. Located here are some of the oldest Christian Churches in the World, as well as one of the oldest Mosques, and this is a common tour destination.

West Bank and Giza Tour Giza is where the Great Pyramid is located, and so a common stop on any tour, but there is more to the west bank of the Nile in Cairo, Egypt. Several important districts are located here, along with wonderful restaurants and great shopping opportunities.

Cairo is a complicated city. Each district of this city by the Nile was established and populated under very diverse conditions and at various points across history. Cairo’s districts are unique in their own way, have their own culture and their own feel. Below you can find some information about these districts (in alphabetical order).

Abdeen
Abdeen is home to the famous Abdeen Palace, which was officially inaugurated in 1874 after ten years of construction. The Palace includes five hundred rooms, and the cost of building the Palace reached 700,000 Egyptian Pounds, in addition to two million Pounds spent to furnish it.

Ain Shams
Ain Shams is relatively close to Nasr City and Heliopolis, and shares many of the same characteristics of these districts. This is where Ain Shams University, the second largest public university in Cairo after Cairo University, is located. Ain Shams was part of the original Heliopolis (Iunu); it’s said to have a large number of undiscovered Pharaonic monuments.

Al-Matariyyah
It is located close to the west of the district Musturud It is mostly an industrial district with many with oil companies and food industries. The Thursday market they hold in the area is one of the oldest and biggest markets in the city. It is said that the name Al-Matariyyah was derived from an event that happened there; there was no water, so Virgin Mary asked God to make it rain (Rain in Arabic means Matar) and the word mutated to Matariyyah.

Azbakeya
Azbakeya was developed when Amir Azbak, one of Qaytbay’s princes, established stables and a residence of his own and excavated Berkat al-Azbakiyyah. It contains many historically important establishments including Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral (Azbakeya), which was inaugurated by Pope Mark VIII in 1800. Abakeya is the place where the first Cairo Opera House was established, until it burnt down in 1970. This Opera House was a historic landmark of Cairo for decades and was where Umm Kulthum, the famous singer, used to hold her legendary concerts.

Bab Al-Louq
This district is located so close to Downtown Cairo that it is often mistaken for Downtown. The streets of Bab al-Louq have the same old feel as the neighboring streets of Downtown. This is also the location of the Ministry of Interior.

Boulaq
The origin of the name is unknown. However, there are some speculations that it came from the French word Beau Lac, meaning “the beautiful lake”, but others argue the presence of the name long before the French Campaign. In the 1560s it was Cairo’s main port and it eventually became an industrial district in the early 19th century. It was the original site of the Egyptian Museum, before the collection was moved to Cairo proper in the late 1890s.

Coptic Cairo
It is a part of Old Cairo which includes the Babylon Fortress, the Coptic Museum, the Hanging Church, the Greek Church of St. George and many other Coptic churches and historical sites. Coptic Cairo has a distinctive feel of prestige due to the amount of significant historical building in the area.

Daher
Daher is named after al-Malik al-Zahir Rukn al-Din Baibars al-Bunduqdari who was a Mamluk Sultan of Egypt and Syria and whose memoirs were recorded in the old Arabic folkloric tale Sirat Al-Zahir Baibars.

Downtown Cairo
The construction of Downtown Cairo dates back to the 1860s when Khedive Ismail was responsible for rebuilding the section in the same manner as Haussmann's fresh Paris boulevards. The whole district was constructed into squares and streets. No other place in Cairo has the beautiful streets of Downtown uncovering architectural masterpieces as you go by and give you the opportunity to absorb the glory and history behind this antique neighborhood. Downtown Cairo is the district that gave Cairo the name of “Paris of the Middle East”.

El Manial
Located on Rhoda Island in the River Nile; El Manial is a very distinctive area if you spare the time to look closely. It is a much humbler version of Zamalek, the other island district in the Nile, with old beautiful buildings, narrow streets and a Nile view on both sides. Prince Mohammad Ali’s Manial Palace can also be found there.

El-Marg
El-Marg was famous for its palm trees owing to its fertile lands; the area was farmlands till the 90s when it was urbanized. It is a district in northeastern Cairo, and was separated from Al-Salam district as of the first of April 1994. It is crowded and holds over 600,000 residents. El Marg is one of the poorest neighborhoods in Cairo; it’s very neglected by the government, with water shortages, frequent blackouts and deteriorating sewage systems.

El-Quba
The district was once a rich neighborhood with enormous mansions covering the area. Today, high blocks cover the once richly gardened district. It is famous for having two major palaces that were once the residences of King Faruk: Tahra Palace and Quba Palace.

El-Sakakini
El-Sakakini is a small district (quarter) in Cairo that neighbors the El Zaher and Abbaseya districts. Originally part of El Zaher, it was named after a wealthy famous family of Syrian origin.

El Tagamu El Khames (5th Settlement)
El Tagamu El Khames composed of a number of neighborhoods; the settlement is part of a government plan to develop deserted areas, aiming to house the fast growing rate of the population. It is one of the finest districts in the city and the center of New Cairo. El Tese’en Street is the longest street in the area, cutting through the entire district. It is planned to be one of the liveliest commercial and economic centers in the country. It is also home to the German University in Cairo (GUC) and the new campus of the American University in Cairo (AUC). The 5th settlement is a large area with many compounds, independent buildings and houses. It is known for its quiet neighborhoods, safe environment, and cleaner air. It’s one of the fastest growing urban areas in the country.

Ezbet El Haggana
Ezbet El Haggana is one of the slum areas in Greater Cairo located on the NorthEast end of the city. Its area is approximately 31,000 square meters and the population exceeds one million people. Ezbet Al-Haggana is one of the most marginalized and impoverished areas.

El Faggala
El Faggala is located near Ramesis Square. It has long been an important center for book publishing, perhaps the largest in the country. It is also an important religious center for the Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt.

El Fustat
El Fustat was the first capital of Egypt under Arab rule. It was built by the Arab general Amr Ibn Alas immediately after the Arab conquest of Egypt in AD 641. The first mosque ever built in Egypt and Africa as a whole, the Mosque of Amr Ibn Al-As, is located there and is still in use. It has been extensively rebuilt and renovated over the centuries so much that nothing really remains of the original structure. Although the area doesn’t play a huge part in modern Cairo, it’s worth a visit for the incredible history. You might even find some historical buildings hiding in an alleyway here or there.

Garden City
Garden City is located at the end of Tahrir Square by the Nile. It is one of the classiest neighborhoods in Cairo. The district came to existence in 1318 when Al Nasser Nasr Eldin Mohamed Bin Qalaoon, one of the Mamluks, decided to turn it around, plant trees and hold horse racing tournaments there. Now the area houses a large number of embassies and important officials’ houses. Garden City is one of the quieter areas in Cairo, with its old beautiful buildings, narrow streets and aging trees.

Heliopolis
In 2006, Egypt celebrated the 100th anniversary of Heliopolis. The area houses the First Family of Egypt and is known for the number of influential people living there. People of Heliopolis have great pride in their neighborhood; they even hold a yearly spring festival celebrating the district. It’s the place tourists see when they arrive in Cairo since the airport is located there. One part of Heliopolis is Korba; it is as close as it gets to Downtown, not in the architectural sense since the buildings of Korba have an Islamic style with mashrabiyas and arches, but in the same old prestigious feel. One of the most notable buildings of Heliopolis is The Baron Palace, built by Belgian architect Baron Empian who built the whole district.

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Maadi
Maadi owes its existence to Khedive Ismail in the 19th century. He asked the Canadian architect and officer Captain Alexander Adams to build a compound for the country’s aristocrats away from the crowds of Cairo. Little did they know centuries later, Maadi would still keep its quiet and relaxing quality. The design was inspired by Colonial England; with its two story houses with front and back yards. The familiarity of the neighborhood to European cities, made it a popular choice for foreigners living in Cairo, and to this day it still attracts them. Many of Maadi’s residents are international students and professionals residing in Cairo, which gives Maadi a very Western feel. Maadi is full of gardens that you can sit in and enjoy.

Mokattam
Mokattam is a hill located on the eastern side of Cairo. It was, in the past, an important source of limestone. The houses and residents of Mokattam were originally of the upper class, until the 1992 earthquake that happened in Cairo, when people who lost their homes were relocated there. Millions of years ago sometime between the Eocene and Oligocene epochs, Mokattam was a not a hill, but rather the bottom of a lake or water source of some type that is still not known exactly what it was. To this day, you can find shells, small fish and other underwater life preserved in its stones. One of the best things about Mokattam would be the weather and the amazing view of the city, especially at night. There are also a number of cafés with a city view in the area.

Obour City
Obour City is one of the new suburbs, located NorthEast of Cairo. It’s an industrial area, but also has a number of hotels. It is also the location of the main vegetable market.

Rhoda Island
Rhoda Island is an island located on the Nile. Most people confuse Rhoda with Manial since there’s no significant difference between the two. However, Manial is only the northern part of the island with Mamalik as the southern part. Rhoda used to be the place of choice for kings and people of authority in the 1900s. There were a vast number of palaces and villas in the area making it a very rich, classy and privileged place to live. This is not the case now, although one can still find beautiful buildings in Rohda, the majority of it are apartment buildings for the middle classes. It also has the nilometer.

Rod El Farag
Rod El Farag was originally the main vegetable market not just in Cairo, but in the whole country. People came from all over the country for the market (now located in Obour). It’s a very traditional area; most of its residents are farmers who relocated from the countryside, to be closer to their businesses. Although the market is not there anymore, the residents remain essentially the same.

Zamalek
The origin of the name Zamalek is controversial. One of the popular theories is that it is a translation of a Kurdish word meaning “kings’ vacation spot” (since the Ayyubiid kings used to go there for the gardens and the good weather). Another theory is that it is a translation of a Turkish word meaning “small huts” (Mohammad Ali built a huge castle there and around it there were small huts for his servants). Also some people say that it is the plural of a plant called Zamlak that used to grow in the area. Around the 5th Century, there were two islands where Zamalek is now; then around the time of the French campaign in Egypt, a third island was found in the same area. By time these three islands joined forming what is now called the island of Zamalek. It is located on the northern section of the Gezira Island in the Nile. Zamalek is famous for being the district where the very elite of Cairo society live among many foreigners who rent apartments in the new buildings there. The beautiful buildings of Zamalek usually have some stories behind them. Many celebrities lived in the area, like Om Kalthum who has a statue right next to her old house overlooking the Nile. With many hotels, the Cairo Tower, the Cairo Opera House, as well as some nice shops, restaurants and cafés. Zamalek is a very hip place to spend your time.

Zeitoun
Zeitoun was the birthplace of Fathia Nkrumah (born Fathia Rizk to a Coptic family), wife of Kwame Nkrumah, the first President of Ghana. The name Zeitoun means Olives. It was named that way due to the many olive farms in that area before the 23 July Revolution. The area used to have many mansions before the revolution, but now it’s a mixture of classes.

*Photos by: Mostafa El Khafif and Abeer Mohamed

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Last Updated: August 21st, 2011