Historic Haunts

Egypt Today (Ethar El-Katatney)

In a city that’s been home to a number of religions and cultures over the centuries, it’s not unusual to see a McDonalds jostling for space with a centuries-old mashrabeya, or a minaret leaning over a small alleyway.

We all fawn over the beautiful architectural marvels that have been left to us, but how many of us have actually taken the time to traverse even one of the old Cairo quarters and enjoy some quality culture time? In that vein, we ask you to put on your walking shoes, ditch the car for a day, take a deep breath, and go on our walking tour.

For the uninitiated, there’s no better place to start than El-Muez Lideen Allah Street, the historic axis of Fatimid Cairo and a maze of over 30 mosques and monuments that span some 800 years. Stretching across the northern gate of Bab El-Futuh to Bab El-Zewayla on the southern wall, the two-kilometer street is the most important commercial thoroughfare of the old city, and a walk down can take you as little as 20 minutes or as long as a day. A whole population of craftsmen, shopkeepers, tradesmen and the owners of restaurants and cafés inhabit El-Muez and its adjoining alleys; many are born, live, work and even die on the same neighborhood.