Cairo historical buildings to become luxury hotels

RIA Novosti

Authorities in Cairo plan to restore historical buildings in the Egyptian capital and turn them into luxury hotels, the Al-Ahram newspaper said on Wednesday.

Officials and academics believe the move could rescue several historical buildings. The plan concerns primarily Egyptian roadside inns, called caravanserais, located in the Islamic part of Cairo.

Traders, pilgrims and other travelers have stayed at these inns, located along famous caravan routes in the Middle East, for centuries, and they have become a feature of pre-Muslim and Muslim architecture.

"A tourist can never find a better place to stay in Cairo, where he or she can revisit history and discover the charm of the East," the country's culture minister Farouk Hosni said in an interview with the newspaper.

In addition, former palaces of the Egyptian nobility, which are now used as cultural centers, art galleries and museums, could also be turned into hotels.