Three
edifices from the Mameluke, Ottoman and Ayyubid eras were inaugurated Monday in
Historic Cairo after intensive restoration. Written By/ Nevine El-Aref.
Before
cutting the red ribbon, the dignitaries, along with Archbishop of St.
Catherine's Monastery Demitry Demianos, stood for a moment of silence on the
stairs of the Sabil-Kuttab of Mohamed Ali in memory of the Egyptian officers
and soldiers who were killed in a terrorist attack on Friday in Rafah, North
Sinai.
Other
officials present included Local Development Minister Hesham Al-Sherif as well
as the ministers of culture and religious endowments and directors of foreign
archaeological institutes in Egypt.
The
inauguration tour started by the Sabil-Kuttab (public water fountain and
Quranic school) of Khesru Pasha before moving to the Qubbet (Dome) Nagm El-Din
Ayyub and finally Mohib El-Din El-Tayeb Hall.
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The Ceiling of Khesru Sabil Kuttab
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He
added that the newly inaugurated edifices are the first batch of a restoration
campaign that includes seven monuments. The four still being restored include
Maqaad Mammay Al-Seify, Al-Salihiyya Madrassa (school) Saeed Al-Saadaa’ Khanqah
and the Abul Dahab monumental complex.
The
ministry has allocated EGP 9 million to restore these seven. Mohamed
Abdel-Aziz, director-general of Historic Cairo Rehabilitation Project explains
that the first three monuments were like other Islamic ones in heavily populated
areas like Al-Moez street: suffering from ill use by area inhabitants, excess
subterranean water leaking in, and cracked walls.
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The Al-Tayyeb Hall
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Al-Sultan
Al-Saleh Negm El-Din dome is a rare example of a significant period in Egyptian
Islamic history, when the Mamelukes took the Egyptian throne from the Ayyubids.
The dome, he explains, was built by Shagaret Al-Dor as a burial place for her
husband Al-Sultan Negm Al-Din, the last Ayyubid ruler. It consists of a large
hall with a wooden sarcophagus in the middle and two other halls holding a kuttab
and a small mosque.
Sherif
Fawzi, coordinator of the El-Moez street project, said that the Moheb Al-Din
Abul-Tayyeb Hall was originally the reception hall of a palace built during the
14th Century. During the 1940s, the palace was severely damaged when work began
on Beit Al-Qadi road. The hall was the only section left intact in the stunning
palace.
Today,
it is a vast square visitor hall with a large mashrabiya façade. A marble water
tap decorates the center and overhead is a fine wooden ceiling ornamented with
colourful foliage and geometrical drawings. To the left is a small passage
leading to a bathroom with a vaulted ceiling.
These are the Cairo Islamic attractions. These places are showing the Egyptian Islamic history. Cairo is a most popular tourist destination in Egypt among all tourist attractions. Cairo is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in Africa, the name means "the victorious city". It is located on both banks of the River Nile near the head of the river's delta in northern Egypt.
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