Old Cairo or
Islamic Cairo is the original core of the city and was enclosed by a large wall. Most of the wall is now gone, but components of the old city still exist. For the record, because of the narrowness of the streets and the eventual visit to the busy market place, we decided to leave the kids home for this trip.
This is a section of the original wall built in the eleven hundreds. It saw action from the Crusaders.
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| One of four gates to enter the walled city. Criminals and crusaders where hung from them. |
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| Got to love this old gate |
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| Al-Hakim mosque courtyard |
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| The hallway extended the opposite direction for the same distance |
These photos were taken at the
Al-Hakim Mosque
The expansive court yard of tiled marble was beautiful. Because it's still a working mosque i.e. used for daily worship, Emily was required to wear a head covering. We also had to remove our shoes.
During my Egyptian stay it was common for groups of people to want their picture taken with Emily and her children. We were tracked down by a group of young school girls.
We visited an old historic house with lots of rooms and winding hallways. You could seriously get lost in your own home.
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| Home courtyard |
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| Impressive stain glass and window lattice |
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| Looking up into a room ceiling |
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| Old cabinet door latches. You got to love it. |
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| The windows in this room were awesome |
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| Loved this wall cabinet. The table was original too. |
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| Loved the inlaid marble flooring |
Other Mosques
We visited several old, non-working mosques and they were just absolutely beautiful - and historic. Unfortunately, I can't remember all the names.
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| The windows were just awesome |
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| Me and my doors |
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| Detail of the door. It is hammered-out metal. |
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| Yep |
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| Loved the wrought iron window bars |
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| Incredible windows |
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| The stone engraving was beyond belief |
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| View into mosque from hallway window |
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| Loved the small stain glass window above the alcove |
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| Had been used to seeing the large red bricks and here they are small |
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| Loved the built in arch |
Time For Lunch
When it was time for lunch our guide took us to a local restaurant serving typical Egyptian food. Given our location (hey, I just saw a guy hacking a goats head brains out in public), I wasn't sure I wanted 'real' Egyptian. It turned out the place was awesome and happily I didn't spend the next day you-know-where.
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| Our guide getting ready to take on some felafel |
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| A sampling of maḥshi - vegetables stuffed with rice. Very good. |
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| I'm ready to give it a try. No risk, no glory. |
Unique Experience
Located in old Cairo is a very famous and still-working mosque -
Al-Azhar. It's from this mosque that nearly all interpretations of the Koran are issued. This time Emily had to don not only a head covering, but also a skirt over her blue jeans. Of course the shoes had to come off for all of us.
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| Emily ready to enter the mosque |
Inside the mosque we were able to witness an actual call to prayer and the prayer service. It was a very unique experience. We noticed an interesting clock on the wall and our guide told us that it was basically the atomic clock for all mosques in Egypt. It was the official time used by all mosques for the five-times-a-day prayer services.
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| Looking over the city from the tower top |
As an extra special treat, our guide took us to the top of one tower (minaret) at the mosque . We had to climb a very narrow, winding, dark (like bring a flashlight) staircase. Heights bother me and the wind was blowing very fierce. I appreciated the view and then it was time to go down. Before the advent of loud speakers, I can't imagine someone climbing the stairway five times a day to literally call people to prayer. Once was a workout for me.
The Finale
We ended our old city tour by walking a few narrow streets and shopping at the market of all markets - the
Khan_el-Khalili or simply the Khan. You can't go to Egypt without walking this absolutely crazy and very much Egyptian market place.
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| It's real and it's raw |
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| At least the fish were on ice |
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| Vendor view from top of a building. Notice old window on the right. |
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| We're gong straight ahead into the narrowest part |
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| We finally reached a gate on the other side of the old city |
