WHS#62

Everyone who hears Cairo probably thinks of the Pyramids, and for good reason. The Pyramids of Giza are the biggest draw for tourists in Cairo, but Ancient Egyptian the heart of the city is not. It's a living Arab metropolis, and its heart is one of the most chronologically extensive and impressive Islamic cities in the world. The first mosque in Africa, Masjid Amr ibn al-As, was built here, and the Fatimids, Ayyubids, and Mamluks all ruled great Islamic empires from here. This is not a city that died with the pharaohs, but instead, one that thrived after them. It's the city of a thousand minarets, and that doesn't even seem to be an exaggeration! It's even a center of the Coptic Orthodox Church. And it's the bustling, crowded, polluted capital of the modern Egypt. Yes, Cairo is a crazy city with just as crazy a past, as I learned on my family trip to the Middle East in May 2018. The sad thing is that I almost didn't get to explore Islamic Cairo at all, as I had planned for the day to be taken up by Wadi al-Hitan, which I considered a greater priority. In a twist of fate, the police barred us from entry as it was low season and they couldn't assure our safety, but I wasn't discouraged. I realized that I could now explore 2 places that I had originally thought I couldn't due to the time constraints: Saqqara and Cairo itself. After touring Saqqara and Memphis in the morning, I went on to visit 3 mosques in the Historic Cairo WHS, and having never been inside a mosque beforehand, I must say I enjoyed the visits a lot.

First, I visited the Muhammad Ali Mosque in Cairo's Citadel. It's probably the most famous mosque in Cairo, but I wasn't too excited for it as it was an Ottoman mosque, which isn't what I'd be looking for in Egypt. Nevertheless, I was pleasantly surprised by how pretty the interior was. Yes, there are probably much better examples of the style in Turkey, but I haven't been there, so let me enjoy my moment here. The size of the dome was actually really impressive to see from directly below, and the walls and windows weren't as bare and colorless as I had imagined the Alabaster Mosque to be. Continuing on to Sultan Hassan Mosque, my favorite mosque out of any I've ever entered, it was interesting to note the adjacent Al-Rifai Mosque mirroring it. Sultan Hassan is the original Mamluk-age mosque in the area, and it's probably the best example of Mamluk religious architecture out there. The entrance portal by itself is worth going for, covered in the iconic honeycomb embellishments and intricate tilework. As you take off your shoes and enter the building, you'll see the whole structure is just that decorated. But it's not a just an artistic and architectural masterpiece, but a madrasa too, so there are living, cooking, and studying quarters here. The best part is definitely the central courtyard, though. A big open square with a beautiful cleansing fountain in the middle and huge vaulted chambers, with countless lanterns hanging from the ceiling, on each of its four sides awaits you. It's an amazing sight, and you can even see the towering minaret of the mosque on some angles. Finally, we were let into the mausoleum of Sultan Hassan's sons, which is lavishly and colorfully embellished. The man who let us in demonstrated the acoustics of the dome, and his 'Allahu Akbar's indeed echoed loudly throughout the chamber. Without any other tourists around, it was a surreal experience to see the history and the genius in the making of this mosque first-hand and uninterrupted. Definitely check Sultan Hassan Mosque out if you're in Cairo, it's one of the most beautiful, impressive, and unique mosques in the world, if I have anything to say about it. Lastly, I visited the Al-Rifai Mosque across the alley, which was made to complement the older mosque. It's fairly recent, just over a century old, and it shows. It was cool to see the grave of Mohammed Reza Pahlavi, though. A little piece of Iran in my tour of Egypt. I would've really loved to see Al-Azhar and Ibn Tulun for their unique Fatimid and Abbasid architectures, respectively, but that short afternoon was all I had with the mosques of Cairo. I was happy with what I saw, though.

The next day, we went on to visit Coptic Cairo. While the OUV of this WHS doesn't even mention the city's Coptic heritage, the area is still part of the core zone, as the site of Fustat, the first Islamic capital of Egypt. I think Coptic Cairo deserves it's own designation, but that'll be a story for another day. I will say the Hanging Church was a really cool juxtaposition of its clearly Arabic style and Christian use. Either way, Cairo has definitely grown on me as a city. It's a place I wouldn't mind going back to for another exploration, despite the dirt and (possible) danger. Actually, the city, and the country as a whole outside of Northern Sinai, feels pretty secure, and there's a strong police presence everywhere you might want to and are allowed to go to. Cairo is just so rich in history, and it preserves masterpieces of every period it's gone through. The traffic is absolutely legendary too. As a Filipino, I never thought I'd be intimidated by another country's traffic until I got here!