The Best Sight in Cairo, Egypt

Background Illustration for Sights

Cairo is big: just how big you'll see on the drive in from the airport, which sometimes takes so long you'll think you're driving to Aswan. And what you see on the way into town, amazingly, is only half of it—Cairo's west-bank sister city, Giza, stretches to the Pyramids, miles from Downtown. But if you are the sort of person who instinctively navigates by compass points, exploring Cairo will be a breeze because the Nile works like a giant north–south needle running through the center of the city. If not, you might find the city bewildering at first.

Taxi drivers generally know only major streets and landmarks, and often pedestrians are unsure of the name of the street they stand on—when they do know, it's as often by the old names as the postindependence ones—but they'll gladly steer you in the wrong direction in an effort to be helpful. Just go with the flow and try to think of every wrong turn as a chance for discovery.

Thankfully, too, you don't have to conquer all of Cairo to get the most out of it. Much of the city was built in the 1960s, and the new areas hold relatively little historical or cultural interest. The older districts, with the exception of Giza's pyramids, are all on the east bank and easily accessible by taxi or Metro. These districts become relatively straightforward targets for a day's exploration on foot.

Old Cairo, on the east bank a couple miles south of most of current-day Cairo, was the city's first district. Just north of it is Fustat, the site of the 7th-century Arab settlement. East of that is the Citadel. North of the Citadel is the medieval walled district of al-Qahira that gave the city its name. It is better known as Islamic Cairo. West of that is the colonial district. Known as Downtown, it is one of several—including Ma'adi, Garden City, Heliopolis, and Zamalek—laid out by Europeans in the 19th and 20th centuries. (The west-bank districts of Mohandiseen and Doqqi, by comparison, have only sprouted up since the revolution in 1952.) The most interesting sights are in the older districts; the newer ones have the highest concentrations of hotels, restaurants, and shops.

Al-Azhar Mosque and University

Islamic Cairo South

Built in AD 970 by Fatimid caliph al-Mu'izz, al-Azhar is the oldest university in the world. Although the Fatimids were Shi'ite, the Sunni Mamluks who ousted them recognized its importance and replaced the Shi'ite doctrine with Sunni orthodoxy. Today, the university has faculties of medicine, engineering, and religion. It also has auxiliary campuses across the city.

Al-Azhar's primary significance remains as a school of religious learning. All Egyptian clerics must be certified from it—a process that can take up to 15 years. Young men from all over the world study here in the traditional Socratic method; students sit with a tutor until both agree that the student is ready to go on. The Grand Imam of al-Azhar is not just the director of the university, but also the nation's supreme religious authority. The beauty of al-Azhar, unlike many other monuments, stems in part from the fact that it is alive and very much in use.

Built in pieces throughout the ages, al-Azhar is a mixture of architectural styles, and the enclosure now measures just under 3 acres. After you enter through the Gates of the Barbers, a 1752 Ottoman addition, remove your shoes and turn left to the Madrasa and Tomb of Amir Aqbugha. Note the organic-shaped mosaic pattern rare to Islamic ornamentation near the top of the recess in the qibla wall (wall in the direction of Mecca).

Back at the entrance, the Gates of Sultan Qaitbay, built in 1483, can be seen. The quality of ornamentation verifies this Mamluk leader's patronage of architecture. The finely carved minaret placed off-center is noteworthy. To the right is the Madrasa al-Taybarsiyya completed in 1309, and once ranked among the most spectacular madrasas in Mamluk Cairo. Only its qibla wall remains, and it’s said that the ceiling was once gold-plated.

Qaitbay’s gateway opens to a spacious courtyard, quite typical of early Islamic design. Through the keel arches is the entrance to the main sanctuary, which was traditionally a place to pray, learn, and sleep. It's part Fatimid, part Ottoman. The Ottoman extension is distinguished by a set of steps that divides it from the original. The two qibla walls, the painted wooden roof, the old metal gates that used to open for prayer, and the ornate stucco work of the Fatimid section are all noteworthy.

To the right of the Ottoman qibla wall is the Tomb of Abd al-Rahman Katkhuda, the man most responsible for the post-Mamluk extension of al-Azhar. To the extreme left along the Fatimid qibla wall is the Madrasa and Mausoleum of the Eunuch Gawhar al-Qanaqba’i, treasurer to Sultan Barsbay. It's small, but its intricately inlaid wooden doors, the stained-glass windows, and dome with an interlacing floral pattern are exceptional.

Return to the courtyard. To the right of the Minaret of Qaitbay is the Minaret of al-Ghuri, the tallest in the complex. Built in 1510, it’s divided into three sections like its predecessor but is tiled rather than carved. The first two are octagonal, and the final section, consisting of two pierced rectangular blocks, is unusual, and not at all like Qaitbay's plain cylinder.

Educational Institution Free
al-Azhar St., Cairo, Egypt
Sight Details
Free

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