Cairo Day 3

Sunday … our last day with the freedom to see the sights before knuckling down to some serious database training and the first TIMSS meeting for the 2006 survey! There..do you all feel better now that you know we’ll be working for the next 5 days?? Hmmm? LOL

Today we negotiated a price with the cab driver to take us to the Citadel – set on a limestone spur to the east of the city and home to Egypt’s rulers for about 700 years. Saladin began building the Citadel in 1176 to fortify the city against the Crusaders, then following the overthrow of Saladin’s dynasty, the Mamluks extended the Citadel, adding ‘sumptuous palaces and harems. Sadly there’s not much sign of that now! The Ottomans continued to enlarge the Citadel and then after the removal of the French on 1798 Mohammed Ali restructured it again and added the Turkish style mosque that bears his name. The Mosque of Mohammed Ali dominates the complex.
There is a great view over Cairo out to the pyramids from the front of the mosque, and much of the fortifications are still standing.
After that we went on foot to the Mosque of Sultan Hassan, which is regarded as one of the finest pieces of early Mamluk architecture in Cairo. It’s huge, and one of the earliest hospitals was included inside the mosque, built to combat cholera. There are four floors above the main level, which housed scholars who attended schools within the walls of the mosque.
Leaving there we headed by taxi to Coptic Cairo, past the Northern Cemetery, which is also known as the City of the Dead. This is not only a cemetery, but also a place for the living. In Egypt even the humblest family tombs were designed to include a room where visitors could stay overnight, and from the 14th century, people have lived in houses above the tombs. There’s water, gas and electricity available, and apparently there’s a police station and a post office (there you go Michael, how’s THAT for a posting!).
Coptic Cairo is the Christian part of Cairo, although there are still mosques there too. The main entrance is between the remains of the two round towers of Babylon’s western gate, built by the Emporer Trajan in AD 98. We visited the Hanging Church, which was built on top of the Water Gate of Roman Babylon in about the 7th century. Also in the complex is the Church of St Sergius, which is built over a cave in which Joseph, Mary and the baby Jesus were purported took shelter after they fled to Egypt to escape King Herod’s persecution (kill all the first born boys). All very interesting!
We then caught the metro back to Opera station, which was surprisingly clean and easy. The first two carriages are women only, so we took advantage of that and avoided the tightly pack remaining carriages like the plague! Well there’s got to be some advantage to being a second-class citizen! The women are generally very friendly, and smile broadly when you catch their eye!
Opera station brought us to the vicinity of the Cairo Tower, which we ascended in a lift. The tower was built in 1961, and resembles a 185m high wickerwork tube. The height is equivalent to that of a 60 story building, and at the top there’s a platform to look at the views. Lucky I’ve conquered my fear of heights, and could happily stand near the edge and look down at the Nile! There’s a strange revolving cafeteria at the top where we stopped and had a drink and admired the 360 degree views of Cairo. Finally we walked back to the hotel and put our feet up for a couple of hours until the Reception at 7pm. Now it’s work for the next 5 days, then a trip to the Pyramids at Giza, the Saqqara Pyramids (which includes the Step Pyramid of Zoser), a pharonic village, and then finally a boat trip/dinner down the Nile! So there may be nothing much now until Saturday – but you never can tell what surprises are around the corner!!
The photos in the collage are, from the top left:
Looking over the Nile to the pyramids
From the Citadel – over Cairo to the pyramids
Mosque of Mohammed Ali
Inside the mosque
Domes of the mosque
Mosque of An-Nair Mohammed
Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan
Mirror of St George slaying the dragon, Coptic Cairo
Hanging Church, Coptic Cairo
Inside the Hanging Church
Cairo Tower
Views over Cairo from the tower, and Sue in the revolving restaurant
Classic car (typical of those in Cairo)
Doors in a convent in Coptic Cairo