Wandering around Islamic Cairo

There’s a section of Cairo called Islamic Cairo that’s absolutely fabulous to wander around in.  Built over the course of a few hundred years by various rulers, it’s layers upon layers of history, mosques, schools and Amir palaces from over a 1000 years ago.

All subsumed in the current bustling insanity that is Cairo of the present.

We were really excited to crash Tegan’s Islamic Architecture class field trip in order to actually have an idea of what we were looking at. Her teacher kind of has an outrageous amount of knowledge in her head.  Here’s the group inside Sultan Hassan mosque – built around 1350s.

And outside the mosque/school:

Tegan’s teacher took on a sort of walking tour…she lead us through alleyways and neighborhoods where we’d suddenly stumble upon (well, it felt like we were stumbling upon them but her Professor knew where we were at all times) a palace, or a mosque, or a school.

Here’s an Amir Palace that is currently surrounded by a pile of trash.

Interestingly, most of the stuff in Cairo that’s really ‘old’ is at least ten feet below current street level.  Ancient cities are often referred to as Jebel something or other.  Jebel = mountain … and many cities, over the centuries, become buried under the trash of later cities and people in the same place.  Sometimes, hills out in the middle of nowhere here in the Middle East are actually buried ancient cities.  Anyways, we’d be walking at street level, then go down a story or two of steps to look at some site or other.  FASCINATING.

Walking around Islamic Cairo.

The next picture is of a great 18th century water distribution place.  It was considered an act of piety, ‘back in the day’ to build a deep well and distribute clean water to the people.  There’s an inside joke amongst our friends that is probably too difficult to describe here…but I feel I can’t bring this water distribution place up without mentioning it…So…here’s a go at it. Sakiat al Sawy is named to reflect the same idea…the idea of a religious sense of spreading culture to the masses through music, art and performance just as these older places spread water to the people.   And our friend Lillie had explained this concept to me at the Cairo Jazz Festival.  But I didn’t really connect it with early Islam…or maybe I just forgot…so when we met up to walk around Islamic Cairo with her (we abandoned the Islamic architecture class midday and struck out as a smaller group with Lillie)…I told her about this place, all excited because I thought it was a cool concept…and she responded like “i TOLD you about this last night!”.  Which became the joke.  For the whole day.  “Hey, did I tell you about these water distribution places…?”

This doesn’t sound really funny at all here. Sorry.

Anyways, here’s the top of the water distribution building.

Lusenda just outside a mosque.  She is pretty.

In an alleyway of one of the modern neighborhoods we were walking in…chickens! And a stray cat.

Fresh eggs for sale:

Outside the walls of the mosque we were going to see, in the middle of the modern neighborhood.

By the way, the Islamic architecture students could tell you all about the style of the minaret and what time period that style of minaret was popular in and etc.  I’m sorry. I can’t.

This is the Ibn Tulun mosque.  An awesome, beautiful, peaceful mosque.  Built in 879 AD. Peaceful and quiet because of a surrounding huge wall, especially meant to cut the noise of the city.

Every arch has a different unique design.

I’m so glad Lusenda visited, for many reasons…but partly because it forced us to get out into this great city and explore beautiful mosques from the past!