Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat—“It was first decided to impose a car ban because the street is specially designated for pedestrians . . . it is in actual fact an open-air museum.” This was the opinion of the officials from the Cairo governorate who are now supervising the renovations of the city’s famous Al-Muizz Street, situated at the heart of its equally famous Al-Husayn district—also known as Fatimid, or Islamic, Cairo.
Islamic Cairo is indeed an open-air museum—one dating back more than 1,000 years when Gen. Jawhar Al-Siqilli led the troops of the Fatimid caliph Al-Muizz li-Din Ilah (the Fortifier of the Religion of God) to conquer Egypt in 969 CE, founding the city of Cairo shortly after.
A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Islamic Cairo is believed to house the greatest concentration of medieval Islamic monuments in the world. With the Al-Husayn Mosque, after which the district is named—and where it is said the head of the legendary grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, Husayn Ibn Ali, resides—the Al-Azhar Mosque and University, one of the world’s oldest higher learning institutions and the leading Sunni Muslim authority in the world, and the famous Khan El-Khalili medieval market, tourists are truly spoilt for choice here.
via Cairo’s Al-Muizz Street gets new look « ASHARQ AL-AWSAT.
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