"A place acquires its value from the people that live in it," goes the Egyptian proverb, and Cairo is a vivid example.
Here the contrast between the legacy of the past and the living present is quite intense, and to be able to get a real taste of the city whose Arabic name means "the Conqueror" you have to look for the fine line that stitches together the madness and the grandiose, and then you walk that line.
Islamic Cairo is overwhelming, but the best way to try and grasp it all is to start from the beginning, in Al-Muezz Street where the first stones were laid to create the city which is named in Arabic for the conquering red planet, Mars.
The view from Beit El-Sehemi, photo by Amria El-Noshokaty
We start at Al-Hussein Mosque, named for the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad. According to local legend, his head is buried in the shrine inside the mosque.
If you are lucky enough to attend the moulid (festival) of Hussien, which falls during the month of Rabia Al-Thani in the Islamic calendar, you are in for an enchanting Sufi experience. However, to avoid the crowds that are not necessarily part of the treat, it is probably better to attend the
March of Sufi sects that is usually after afternoon prayers on the big night of the moulid.
Keep the mosque on your right as you enter a scene from Arabian Nights.
Khan Al-Khalili is perhaps the oldest handicraft market in Cairo. Built and named after Djaharks Al-Khalili on the ruins of the Fatimid saga, according to Hamdi Abu Goliel's latest book Al-Qahera: Shawarea wa Hekayat (Cairo: Streets and Stories), its winding alleys and small shops bear a striking resemblance to the souks of the Arabian Nights, leading some to believe that Khan Al-Khalil was the inspiration for the setting of Arabian Nights.
Al-Hussien Mosque, photo by Amira El-Noshokaty
The khan's location was once the heart of Fatimid reign. It is where the great Eastside palace, with its nine golden doors encrusted with precious stones, was erected by the fourth Fatimid caliph, Al-Muezz Ledin Allah Al-Fatemy.Here you can buy any handmade ornament you think of; you can even watch the artists crafting in action. But don't forget to haggle -- bargaining is an essential part of shopping in this part of town.
Keep walking, and on your right you will find a café named after literary legend Naguib Mahfouz. Mahfouz, who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1988, set his most famous works in this area of Cairo.
Continue in a straight line until the shady arches over your head give way to the sun, and on your right you will find the
medieval complex of Sultan Qalawun, where the sultan is buried. Considered by some to be the one of the most beautiful tombs in the world, after the Taj Mahal,
though much older, the place is serene as well as beautiful. The long corridor unfolds into perhaps the world's first general hospital, known as the Bimarestan ("the patient place") which once opened its doors to people of all social levels free of charge.
The hospital would secure two-month payments for all its cured patients so they could recuperate properly, and there was once a patio with a fountain and live soft music played as part of their music therapy sessions.
Along the way you will find the sabil (water dispensary) of Muhammad Ali, Egypt's famous nineteenth century ruler, who built the sabil in a prime location in the then-heart of Cairo in memory of his son Ismail who died in Sudan in 1822.
Aside from its architectural brilliance, the sabil's design is quite remarkable. To provide ordinary people with fresh drinking water, the sabil draws on underground reservoirs of water which flow on a slope of white marble to cool the water down.
Khan El-Khalili market, photo by Amira El-Noshokaty
A few metres on you will find an aquamarine door with two silver birds on either side of the sun and a crescent moon. Behind that door is what used to be the school of coppersmiths, and currently functions as the Egyptian Textile Museum.
The museum holds 250 textile pieces and 15 carpets that date back to Ancient Egyptian times. The museum also holds a cover of the Kaaba, which used to be carried all the way from Cairo to Mecca in celebration of pilgrimage season.
Khan El-Khalili market, photo by Amira El-Noshokaty
As a matter of fact, this main route where the museum is located has seen the pilgrimage march from and to Mecca for thousands of years.
Sabil Mohammed Ali-Photo by Amira El-Noshokaty
A bit further on you will find Beit Al-Sehemi, a cultural venue built in 1648.
Door of Textile Museum, photo by Amira El-Noshokaty
The house was part of a big recent restoration project in this district of Al-Darb Al-Asfar. Architecture aside, the house holds two main attractions: one is the national folklore archive, and the other is the premises of the Wamda Troupe which has revived the traditional art of shadow puppets and
aragoz, a local form of puppetry which features a wooden puppet, usually dressed in red,
Qaraqosh, the vazir during Saladin's reign in Egypt, who was known for his harshness and bad judgement.
Aragoz, the protagonist in this mobile puppet theatre, was a perfect vehicle for Egyptian criticism and mockery of the government, politics and the social status quo during the vazir's time and beyond
The troupe holds weekly puppet-making workshops for children, and shows every Friday at 6:30pm.
The old route to Pilgrimage, photo by Amira El-Noshokaty
After that walk, you may be feeling a little hungry. If you turn around and back along the path you've taken, you'll find metal barricades closing off one of the turns on your left to cars. Slip past the barricades into that narrow street and there you will find one of the oldest feteer (a layered pastry dish) places in the area. I'd take one with traditional Roumi cheese and perhaps one with sugar as desert.
The route to beit El-Sehemi Photo by Amira El-Noshokaty
When you are done, keep the cafe on your right, take a left on to the main street, and head to Al-Fishawy Café for beverages. Its perhaps the oldest and most famous café in the area. Ask for a mixture of kerkade (hibiscus) and tamr hindi (tamarid) juice, and while you are there try to figure out exactly how many mirrors are hanging on those walls.
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