A portal that transports you back into time, Khan el Khalili gives its visitors a glimpse into what a traditional market was like in the middle ages, with its medieval atmosphere and labyrinth of winding streets and twisted alleyways.
In 1382 Emir Djaharks el-Khalili built a big caravanserai (or khan) in the heart of the Fatimid City. A caravanseri was like a hotel for traders, and usually the central point to an area’s economic activity. This caravanserai is still there, you just ask for the narrow street of Sikka Khan el-Khalili and Badestan. The Khan el-Khalili Bazaar is situated at one corner of a triangle of markets that go south to Bab Zuwayla and west to Azbakiyyah. The Khan is bordered on the south by al-Azhar Street and on the west by the Muski Market. One of the old original gates guards the entrance to the original courtyard which lies midway down Sikkit al-Badistan Street. The al-Hussein Mosque is also in Khan el-Khalili and Al-Azhar University and its mosque are not far away.
See the above page for the full story. If you like this post you may find other stories on the Egypt Has It All blog of interest. It is a commercial site, of which I have absolutely no knowledge, and has extensive advertising, but the blog is informative and has some lovely photographs.
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