Egypt [antikvár]

iPr1 'scairo: crossroads of themiddle east.Tourists usually set foot on Egyptian soil tor the firsttime in Cairo, the capital of the country.This sprawl-ing city of more than fourteen million inhabitants,the scat of government, administration and embas-sies, is situated mainly on the right bank ot the Nile.It is the biggest city in Africa and the Arab world,and is the great cultural centre of Islam. Over theyears it has spread, engulfing Memphis, once thecapital of the pharaohs, as well as Turah and Helio-polis, formerly the chief religious centre in ancientEgypt. Cairo is to blame for the destruction of thoseancient cities, whose architectural treasures wereused for many years as quarries for building stone.The complexity of the modern city reflects some-thing of its turbulent past. First and foremost, it dis-plays every facet of Moslem art: the stone needles ofhundreds of mosques stand out against the slightlymisty sky. The Mosque of lbn Tulun, which wasbuilt in the 9th century, has an imposing courtyardsurrounded by ancient porticoes. Moslems bowtowards the mirrab, a sort of niche facing Mecca. Onthe west side a minaret soars skywards; the spiralstairs entwined around it are adorned with superblycarved friezes of plant shapes. According to legend,it was Ahmed lbn Tulun, son of a Turkish slave andfounder of the Tulunid dynasty, who was responsi-ble tor its shape. One day, while the mosque wasbeing built, he happened to be toying with a strip ofpaper, which he had wrapped around one of hisLeft: in Cairo, the tomb of President Nas-ser. Below: the famous El Azhar mosque.Above and left: two views of the greatcity.lingers, when lie turned to his architect and said:"This is the minaret I want".The Mosque ol Sultan Hassan, which is five cen-turies older, from the time of the Mameluks, looksquite forbidding on the outside, but its interior issumptuous.The tourist should certainly visit the mosques ofAl Azhar, Barquq and Qalawun, and the handsomeBlue Mosque. However, the architectural heritageofCairodoes not consist of Moslem buildings alone:one should definitely see the Citadel and a numberof old houses, such as Bayt Sihaymi, as well as thechurches of Old Cairo, the ancient synagogue, Sal-adin's Aqueduct and the Nilometer at Roda.Some pleasant and rewarding hours can be spent,while visiting Old Cairo, in the Coptic Museum,which contains a host ol' reminders of the earlystages of Christianity.