The Historic Cairo Restoration Project (HCRP) is an effort by the governments of Egypt and Cairo to restore and renovate historic Medieval Islamic Cairo. Al-Qahira (Cairo) was officially founded here in 969 CE by the Fatimid caliphs as an imperial capital and walled city, just to the north of the preceding capital Fustat. [1] [2] There are two parts to the HCRP: the remaking of the historic area and the restoration of its monuments. [3]
The Historic Cairo Restoration Project is a project started by the governments of Egypt and Cairo. The main project's intention is to create new museums in a sequence of historical sites in an open-air museum district, that will be widely accessible to both the citizens of Cairo and tourists. [3] The project is currently focused on restoring historic landmarks from the medieval Fatimid era in Cairo (969 CE - 1250 CE). The number of potential historic monuments is estimated between 450 and 630 structures. [2]
According to the Ministry of Culture, the HCRP plan is to "transform the whole area into an open-air museum." [3] The HCRP is first focusing on this Islamic arts district in order to be a part of the Museum With No Frontiers. This is a museum organized by the European Union, and the Fatimid area project will be a part of its Euromed Heritage program — "Islamic Art in the Mediterranean." [3]
A primary concept of the project is to feature the actual historical sites as the main exhibits for this open-air museum by providing extensive information resources and catalogs on-site at each of them. Visitors would therefore be able to truly experience medieval Egyptian culture and history by seeing the structures and sites while concurrently learning more about them from the on-site resources.
As a part of this project, to increase pedestrian accessibility there are plans to create a paved walkway along al-Muizz li-Din Allah, the main ceremonial path of Fatimid Cairo. There are also plans to demolish less significant adjacent vernacular structures to create large garden settings surrounding the landmarks. [3]
The HCRP has issued many plans, which have been met with resistance by some Cairens, the citizens of Cairo. For example, the plans to create gardens and walkways is seen by some as an assault on the original dense medieval layout and 'urban fabric' of Fatimid Cairo that diminishes the historical value of the retained sites.
The reasoning is that in Medieval Cairo, the context of a building was determined by its relationship to neighboring buildings. Buildings and monuments of importance were intentionally constructed adjacent to conventional ones, to convey and enhance their high stature and prestige. It is this urban clustering and juxtaposition that actually gives the landmark buildings authentic context and meaning for visitors to experience. Some Cairens think that by eliminating this context from the buildings the HCRP is lessening the value and historical understanding of their heritage sites. [3]
Some architectural conservation experts have claimed the HCRP has used incorrect building materials in its conservation work. [2] Other conservation experts counter that the massive and immediate intervention for landmarks, despite the inevitable mistakes, has stopped the threat of many just disappearing. [2] [3]
Some residents of historic Cairo have also become suspicious of the HCRP motives, questioning if the project really has historical preservation and interpretation as its true primary intention. Some believe that tourism and commerce are instead the main reason for the project's creation and funding. [3] The large amount of spending necessary for the intended project has also become a point of controversy, with some estimates as high as $350 million. [3] Some residents believe that the massive cost of creating the open-air museum and restoring its landmarks would be better spent for other local public social and economic needs. [2]
The Gates of Cairo were gates at portals in the city walls of medieval Islamic Cairo, within the present day city of Cairo, Egypt.
The al-Hakim Mosque, also known as al-Anwar, is a historic mosque in Cairo, Egypt. It is named after al-Ḥākim bi-Amr Allāh (985–1021), the 6th Fatimid caliph and 16th Ismāʿīlī Imam. Construction of the mosque was originally started by Caliph al-ʿAziz, the son of al-Muʿizz and the father of al-Ḥākim, in 990 CE. It was completed in 1013 by al-Ḥākim, which is why it is named after him.
Islamic Cairo, or Medieval Cairo, officially Historic Cairo, refers mostly to the areas of Cairo, Egypt, that were built from the Muslim conquest in 641 CE until the city's modern expansion in the 19th century during Khedive Ismail's rule, namely: the central parts within the old walled city, the historic cemeteries, the area around the Citadel of Cairo, parts of Bulaq, and Old Cairo which dates back to Roman times and includes major Coptic Christian monuments.
Al-Azhar Park is a public park located in qism al-Darb al-Ahmar, in Historic Cairo, Egypt.
There have been many architectural styles used in Egyptian buildings over the centuries, including Ancient Egyptian architecture, Greco-Roman architecture, Islamic architecture, and modern architecture.
Khan el-Khalili is a famous bazaar and souq in the historic center of Cairo, Egypt. Established as a center of trade in the Mamluk era and named for one of its several historic caravanserais, the bazaar district has since become one of Cairo's main attractions for tourists and Egyptians alike. It is also home to many Egyptian artisans and workshops involved in the production of traditional crafts and souvenirs. The name Khan el-Khalili historically referred to a single building in the area; today it refers to the entire shopping district.
The Historic Cities Programme (HCP) of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) promotes the conservation and re-use of buildings and public spaces in historic cities of the Muslim world. HCP undertakes the restoration and rehabilitation of historic structures and public spaces in ways that can spur social, economic and cultural development. Individual projects go beyond technical restoration to address the questions of the social and environmental context, adaptive reuse, institutional sustainability and training. In several countries, local Aga Khan Cultural Service companies have been formed to implement projects under the supervision of the HCSP headquarters in Geneva.
Old Cairo is a historic area in Cairo, Egypt, which includes the site of a Roman-era fortress, the Christian settlement of Coptic Cairo, and the Muslim-era settlements pre-dating the founding of Cairo proper in 969 AD. It is part of what is referred to as Historic Cairo, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The City of the Dead, or Cairo Necropolis, also referred to as theQarafa, is a series of vast Islamic-era necropolises and cemeteries in Cairo, Egypt. They extend to the north and to the south of the Cairo Citadel, below the Mokattam Hills and outside the historic city walls, covering an area roughly 4 miles (6.4 km) long. They are included in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of "Historic Cairo".
Al-Muizz li-Din Allah al-Fatimi Street, or al-Muizz Street for short, is a major north-to-south street in the walled city of historic Cairo, Egypt. It is one of Cairo's oldest streets as it dates back to the foundation of the city by the Fatimid dynasty in the 10th century, under their fourth caliph, Al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah . Historically, it was the most important artery of the city and was often referred to as the Qasaba. It constituted the main axis of the city's economic zones where its souqs (markets) were concentrated. The street's prestige also attracted the construction of many monumental religious and charitable buildings commissioned by Egypt's rulers and elites, making it a dense repository of historic Islamic architecture in Cairo. This is especially evident in the Bayn al-Qasrayn area, which is lined with some of the most important monuments of Islamic Cairo.
Fatimid art refers to artifacts and architecture from the Fatimid Caliphate (909–1171), an empire based in Egypt and North Africa. The Fatimid Caliphate was initially established in the Maghreb, with its roots in a ninth-century Shia Ismailist uprising. Many monuments survive in the Fatimid cities founded in North Africa, starting with Mahdia, on the Tunisian coast, the principal city prior to the conquest of Egypt in 969 and the building of al-Qahira, the "City Victorious", now part of modern-day Cairo. The period was marked by a prosperity amongst the upper echelons, manifested in the creation of opulent and finely wrought objects in the decorative arts, including carved rock crystal, lustreware and other ceramics, wood and ivory carving, gold jewelry and other metalware, textiles, books and coinage. These items not only reflected personal wealth, but were used as gifts to curry favour abroad. The most precious and valuable objects were amassed in the caliphal palaces in al-Qahira. In the 1060s, following several years of drought during which the armies received no payment, the palaces were systematically looted. The libraries were largely destroyed and precious gold objects were melted down, with a few of the treasures dispersed across the medieval Christian world. Afterwards, Fatimid artifacts continued to be made in the same style, but were adapted to a larger populace, using less precious materials.
Muhammad ibn Hani al-Andalusi al-Azdi,, usually called Ibn Hani, was an Andalusī Isma'īlī Shī'ī poet and the chief court poet to the Fatimid Caliph al-Mu'izz. Most of his collected poems are in praise of the Fatimids against the claims of the Abbasids and the Umayyads of Iberia. He was also called al-Mutanabbi of the West by many of his contemporaries as well as later historians. Ibn Hani was murdered on his way from Egypt in c. 973.
The Mosque of al-Zahir Baybars is a mosque built in Cairo, Egypt by the Mamluk Sultan al-Zahir Baybars al-Bunduqdari through his Vizier Bahaa el-Din bin Hanna and Sanjar al-Shuja‘i.
The Mosque of Amir Altinbugha al-Maridani, dating from 1340 CE, is a mosque from the era of the Mamluk Sultanate of Cairo, Egypt. Located south of Bab Zuweila, in the Darb al-Ahmar neighbourhood, it was built on what was then the outskirts of medieval Cairo by Amir Altinbugha al-Maridani, with significant help from Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad. The mosque has a hypostyle plan similar to the Mosque of al-Nasir, and its exterior walls are decorated in typical Mamluk architecture style. At the time of its building, it was one of the most extravagantly decorated mosques in Cairo, marked by the first fully octagonal minaret and large dome, as well as other architectural innovations. Its history and luxuriousness are directly correlated to the life and prominence of al-Maridani, as it was built with the patronage of his father-in-law, the sultan, and significant donations from al-Maridani's own fortune.
The Fatimid architecture that developed in the Fatimid Caliphate (909–1167 CE) of North Africa combined elements of eastern and western architecture, drawing on Abbasid architecture, Byzantine, Ancient Egyptian, Coptic architecture and North African traditions; it bridged early Islamic styles and the medieval architecture of the Mamluks of Egypt, introducing many innovations.
The al-Sayyida Nafisa Mosque is a mosque in al-Sayyida Nafisa district, a section of the larger historic necropolis called al-Qarafa in Cairo, Egypt. It is built to commemorate Sayyida Nafisa, an Islamic saint and member of the family of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. She was the great-granddaughter of Hasan, one of the Prophet Muhammad's two grandsons. The mosque contains her mausoleum, also known as a mashhad. Along with the necropolis around it, the mosque is listed as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Historic Cairo.
Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Barquq or Mosque-Madrasa-Khanqah of Az-Zaher Barquq is a religious complex in Islamic Cairo, the historic medieval district of Cairo, Egypt. It was commissioned by Sultan al-Zahir Barquq as a school for religious education in the four Islamic schools of thought, composed of a mosque, madrasa, mausoleum and khanqah. The complex was constructed in 1384-1386 CE, with the dome added last. It was the first architectural facility built during the rule of the Circassian (Burji) dynasty of Mamluk Sultanate.
The Wikala of Sultan Qaytbay or Wakala of Sultan Qaytbay is an urban caravanserai and rab built by Sultan al-Ashraf Abu al-Nasr Qaitbay in 1481 CE in Islamic Cairo, the historic medieval district of Cairo, Egypt.
The Mashhad of Sayyida Ruqayya, sometimes referred to as the Mausoleum or Tomb of Sayyida Ruqayya, is a 12th-century Islamic religious shrine and mosque in Cairo, Egypt. It was erected in 1133 CE as a memorial to Ruqayya bint Ali, a member of the Islamic prophet Muhammad's family. It is also notable as one of the few and most important Fatimid-era mausoleums preserved in Cairo today.
Al-Darb al-Ahmar is a centuries old historic neighbourhood in the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Historic Cairo, Egypt. Located south of the old walled city of Cairo, originally built by the Fatimids in the 10th century, it began to urbanize largely during the 14th century in the Mamluk period.
Districts and suburbs of Greater Cairo | ||||||||||
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| Cairo city Cairo Governorate |
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| Giza city Giza Governorate |
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| Shubra El Kheima city Qalyubia Governorate |
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