Sabil-Kuttab of Abd al-Rahman Katkhuda (Arabic: سبيل وكتاب عبدالرحمن كتخدا) is a historic monument in the historic district of Cairo, Egypt. It comprises a public fountain or sabil, an elementary Quran school or kuttab, and an adjacent residential wing.[citation needed] A prime example of Egyptian architecture of its time, it was commissioned in 1744 by Abd al-Rahman Katkhuda, a local official who was a prominent patron of architecture.[1]
Abdeen District is the home of Abdeen Palace (Arabic: قصر عابدين), a 19th-century Cairopalace built by Khedive Ismail and served as Egypt's seat of government from 1874 until the July Revolution in 1952.[1] Since then it is one of the presidential palaces.[1] The palace is centered in its eponymous district, administratively part of the Western Area of Cairo,[2] and part of the Khedival Cairo Area of Value[3] to the west of Historic Cairo.
There is no accurate record of when the mosque was built over the grave of Sayyida Zaynab, and no historical references are currently available except for Ottoman Ali Pasha's order for renovation in 1547, and since then there were other renovations, including the one conducted by Amir Abdul Rahman in 1768 and the one in 1940 by the Ministry of Endowment which demolished the old building completely and built the current building.
Saint Virgin Mary's Coptic Orthodox Church (Coptic: ϯⲉⲕⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲧⲉⲑⲉⲟⲇⲟⲕⲟⲥ ϯⲁⲅⲓⲁ ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ ϧⲉⲛ ⲃⲁⲃⲩⲗⲟⲛ ⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ Church of Mother of God Saint Mary in Egyptian Babylon), also known as the Hanging Church (Arabic: الكنيسة المعلقة, romanized: al-Kanīsa al-Muʿallaqa, Coptic: ϯⲉⲕⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲉⲥⲓϣⲓ), is one of the oldest churches in Egypt which dates to the third century.[1] It belongs to the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria.
The Amr ibn al-As Mosque (Arabic: مَسْجِد عَمْرِو بْنِ الْعَاصِ, romanized: Masjid ʿAmr ibn al-ʿĀṣ) is a mosque in Cairo, Egypt. Named after the Arab Muslim commander Amr ibn al-As, the mosque was originally built in 641–642 CE as the center of the newly founded capital of Egypt, Fustat. The original structure was the first mosque ever built in Egypt and one of the first in Africa.[1] For 600 years, the mosque was also an important center of Islamic learning until al-Muizz's Al-Azhar Mosque in Islamic Cairo replaced it.[2] Through the twentieth century, it was the fourth largest mosque in the Islamic world.[3]
The Mosque of Ibn Tulun (Arabic: مسجد إبن طولون, romanized: Masjid Ibn Ṭūlūn) is located in Cairo, Egypt. It is one of the oldest mosques in Egypt as well as the whole of Africa surviving in its full original form, and is the largest mosque in Cairo in terms of land area. It is built around an open square courtyard which allows natural light to travel through. Ibn Tulun Mosque features ancient architecture styles of Egypt, its decorations being created from carved stucco and wood.[2] This mosque is a popular tourist attraction.
Bab Zuweila or Bab Zuwayla (Arabic: باب زويلة) is one of three remaining gates in the city wall of the Old City of Cairo, the capital of Egypt. It was also known as Bawabbat al-Mitwali during the Ottoman period. It is considered one of the major landmarks of the city and is the last remaining southern gate from the walls of Fatimid-era Cairo in the 11th and 12th century.[1]
Its name comes from Bab, meaning "gate", and Zuwayla, as it was the Western Gate of the city that had a trade route for overland travelers with Zuwayla in the Fezzan.[2] In Coptic tradition the name was associated with Biblical Zebulun (Coptic: ⲍⲉⲃⲩⲗⲱⲛ).[3]
Bab al-Futuh (Arabic: باب الفتوح, lit. 'Conquest Gate') is one of three remaining gates in the city wall of the old city of Cairo, Egypt. It is located at the northern end of al-Mu'izz Street.[1] The other two remaining gates are Bab al-Nasr (Victory Gate) in the north and Bab Zuwayla (Gate of Zuwayla) in the south.[2] The gate was built during the Fatimid period, originally in the 10th century, then rebuilt in its current form in the late 11th century.
Virgin Mary and St. Simon the Tanner Cathedral in the Saint Samaan the Tanner Monastery is on the east bank of the Nile[7] behind the Zabbaleen village. The Zabbaleen village where the garbage collectors of Cairo live. In 1969 the governor of Cairo decided to move all of the garbage collectors to the Mokattam. In 1987 there were approximately 15,000 people living in the Zabbaleen village.[1]
Reaching the monastery is not an easy feat due to having to wind through the Zabbaleen village.
The Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Hasan (Arabic: مسجد ومدرسة السلطان حسن) is a monumental mosque and madrasa located in Salah al-Din Square in the historic district of Cairo, Egypt. It was built between 1356 and 1363 during the BahriMamluk period, commissioned by Sultan an-Nasir Hasan. The mosque was considered remarkable for its massive size and innovative architectural components, and is still considered one of the most impressive historic monuments in Cairo today.[1][2][3]
Our Lady of Heliopolis Co-Cathedral,[1] also known as the Latin Cathedral of Our Lady of Heliopolis, or the Basilica of the Holy Virgin,[2] is a Roman Catholic church building, located on Al-Ahram Square in the Heliopolis neighbourhood of Cairo, Egypt.[3]
A co-cathedral since 2008,[citation needed] it follows the Roman Rite under the jurisdiction of the Apostolic Vicariate of Alexandria of Egypt (Vicariatus Apostolicus Alexandrinus). In 2014 members of various Christian denominations gathered at the site to pray for the country's future after the events in the Arab spring.[6]
Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub[a] (c. 1137 – 4 March 1193), commonly known as Saladin,[b] was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from a Kurdish family, he was the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria. An important figure of the Third Crusade, he spearheaded the Muslim military effort against the Crusader states in the Levant. At the height of his power, the Ayyubid realm spanned Egypt, Syria, Upper Mesopotamia, the Hejaz, Yemen, and Nubia.
He was a military commander in an Albanian Ottoman force sent to recover Egypt from French occupation under Napoleon. Following Napoleon's withdrawal, Muhammad Ali rose to power through a series of political maneuvers, and in 1805 he was named Wāli (governor) of Egypt and gained the rank of Pasha.
Soliman Pasha al-Faransawi (Süleyman Pasha the French; 17 May 1788 – 12 March 1860), born Joseph Anthelme Sève, was a French-born Egyptian commander.
Joseph Anthelme Sève was born in Lyon. He became a sailor.[2] Later he joined the army of Napoleon Bonaparte. He fought at the battles of Trafalgar and Waterloo.[2] After the war ended in 1815, he resigned from Napoleon's Army and worked as a merchant.
At this time, Muhammad Ali Pasha, also known as Muhammad Ali of Egypt, was recruiting European officers to train his newly formed military on modern warfare and soldierly discipline. Sève travelled to Egypt, changed his name and converted to Islam.[citation needed] He was placed in charge of the new soldiers' school at Aswan, now the Egyptian Military Academy. His task was to train a new model army of Sudanese slaves. When this did not work out, Muhammed Ali sent him other ethnicities to train as officers: Egypt-born Circassians, Albanians and Greeks.
Ahmed ʻUrabi ([ˈæħmæd ʕoˈɾɑːbi]; Arabic: أحمد عرابي ; 31 March 1841 – 21 September 1911), also known as Ahmed Ourabi or Orabi Pasha,[1][2] was an Egyptian military officer.[3][4] He was the first political and military leader in Egypt to rise from the fellahin (peasantry), ʻUrabi participated in an 1879 mutiny that developed into the ʻUrabi revolt against the administration of Khedive Tewfik, which was under the influence of an Anglo-Frenchconsortium.[5] He was promoted to Tewfik's cabinet and began reforms of Egypt's military and civil administrations, but the demonstrations in Alexandria of 1882 prompted a British bombardment and invasion which led to the capture of ʻUrabi and his allies and the imposition of British control in Egypt. ʻUrabi and his allies were sentenced by Tewfik into exile far away in British Ceylon, as a form of punishment.[6]
Isma'il Pasha (Egyptian Arabic: إسماعيل باشا Ismā‘īl Bāshā; 12 January 1830 – 2 March 1895), also known as 'Ismail the Magnificent, was the Khedive of Egypt and ruler of Sudan from 1863 to 1879, when he was removed at the behest of Great Britain and France. Sharing the ambitious outlook of his grandfather, Muhammad Ali Pasha, he greatly modernized Egypt and Sudan during his reign, investing heavily in industrial and economic development, urbanization, and the expansion of the country's boundaries in Africa.
Wonderful map by Mai Ghaly El-Gazzar
Abdeen District is the home of Abdeen Palace (Arabic: قصر عابدين), a 19th-century Cairo palace built by Khedive Ismail and served as Egypt's seat of government from 1874 until the July Revolution in 1952.[1] Since then it is one of the presidential palaces.[1] The palace is centered in its eponymous district, administratively part of the Western Area of Cairo,[2] and part of the Khedival Cairo Area of Value[3] to the west of Historic Cairo.
Saint Virgin Mary's Coptic Orthodox Church (Coptic: ϯⲉⲕⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲧⲉⲑⲉⲟⲇⲟⲕⲟⲥ ϯⲁⲅⲓⲁ ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ ϧⲉⲛ ⲃⲁⲃⲩⲗⲟⲛ ⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ Church of Mother of God Saint Mary in Egyptian Babylon), also known as the Hanging Church (Arabic: الكنيسة المعلقة, romanized: al-Kanīsa al-Muʿallaqa, Coptic: ϯⲉⲕⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲉⲥⲓϣⲓ), is one of the oldest churches in Egypt which dates to the third century.[1] It belongs to the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria.
Bab al-Futuh (Arabic: باب الفتوح, lit. 'Conquest Gate') is one of three remaining gates in the city wall of the old city of Cairo, Egypt. It is located at the northern end of al-Mu'izz Street.[1] The other two remaining gates are Bab al-Nasr (Victory Gate) in the north and Bab Zuwayla (Gate of Zuwayla) in the south.[2] The gate was built during the Fatimid period, originally in the 10th century, then rebuilt in its current form in the late 11th century.
The Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Hasan (Arabic: مسجد ومدرسة السلطان حسن) is a monumental mosque and madrasa located in Salah al-Din Square in the historic district of Cairo, Egypt. It was built between 1356 and 1363 during the Bahri Mamluk period, commissioned by Sultan an-Nasir Hasan. The mosque was considered remarkable for its massive size and innovative architectural components, and is still considered one of the most impressive historic monuments in Cairo today.[1][2][3]
Our Lady of Heliopolis Co-Cathedral,[1] also known as the Latin Cathedral of Our Lady of Heliopolis, or the Basilica of the Holy Virgin,[2] is a Roman Catholic church building, located on Al-Ahram Square in the Heliopolis neighbourhood of Cairo, Egypt.[3]
Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub[a] (c. 1137 – 4 March 1193), commonly known as Saladin,[b] was the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty. Hailing from a Kurdish family, he was the first sultan of both Egypt and Syria. An important figure of the Third Crusade, he spearheaded the Muslim military effort against the Crusader states in the Levant. At the height of his power, the Ayyubid realm spanned Egypt, Syria, Upper Mesopotamia, the Hejaz, Yemen, and Nubia.
Muhammad Ali[a] (4 March 1769 – 2 August 1849) was the Ottoman Albanian[3] governor and de facto ruler of Egypt from 1805 to 1848, considered the founder of modern Egypt. At the height of his rule, he controlled Egypt, Sudan, Hejaz, Najd, the Levant, Crete and parts of Greece.
Soliman Pasha al-Faransawi (Süleyman Pasha the French; 17 May 1788 – 12 March 1860), born Joseph Anthelme Sève, was a French-born Egyptian commander.
Ahmed ʻUrabi ([ˈæħmæd ʕoˈɾɑːbi]; Arabic: أحمد عرابي ; 31 March 1841 – 21 September 1911), also known as Ahmed Ourabi or Orabi Pasha,[1][2] was an Egyptian military officer.[3][4] He was the first political and military leader in Egypt to rise from the fellahin (peasantry), ʻUrabi participated in an 1879 mutiny that developed into the ʻUrabi revolt against the administration of Khedive Tewfik, which was under the influence of an Anglo-French consortium.[5] He was promoted to Tewfik's cabinet and began reforms of Egypt's military and civil administrations, but the demonstrations in Alexandria of 1882 prompted a British bombardment and invasion which led to the capture of ʻUrabi and his allies and the imposition of British control in Egypt. ʻUrabi and his allies were sentenced by Tewfik into exile far away in British Ceylon, as a form of punishment.[6]
Isma'il Pasha (Egyptian Arabic: إسماعيل باشا Ismā‘īl Bāshā; 12 January 1830 – 2 March 1895), also known as 'Ismail the Magnificent, was the Khedive of Egypt and ruler of Sudan from 1863 to 1879, when he was removed at the behest of Great Britain and France. Sharing the ambitious outlook of his grandfather, Muhammad Ali Pasha, he greatly modernized Egypt and Sudan during his reign, investing heavily in industrial and economic development, urbanization, and the expansion of the country's boundaries in Africa.
Taha Hussein (Egyptian Arabic: [ˈtˤɑːhɑ ħ(e)ˈseːn], Arabic: طه حسين; November 15, 1889 – October 28, 1973) was one of the most influential 20th-century Egyptian writers and intellectuals, and a figurehead for the Arab Renaissance and the modernist movement in the Arab world.[2] His sobriquet was "The Dean of Arabic Literature" (Arabic: عميد الأدب العربي).[3][4] He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature twenty-one times.[5]
