Al-Mu'izz Street
Al-Muizz li-Din Allah al-Fatimi Street (
Description
Al-Muizz street runs from the city gate of Bab al-Futuh in the north to the gate of Bab Zuweila in the south, both entrances in the stone walls built by the vizier Badr al-Jamali in the 11th century.[1] This makes it one of the longest streets in the walled city, at approximately one kilometer long. Although the name al-Muizz street generally applies only to the street within the historic walled city, in practice the road begun by al-Muizz street continues (under various names) further south for a few kilometers, passing through the Qasaba of Radwan Bey (al-Khayamiya street), and finally ending at the great Qarafa necropolis (the Southern Cemetery or City of the Dead).[2]
History
Historically, the street was referred to as the Qasaba (a word of variable usage in Arabic, but in this case referring to a central part of the city), and constituted the main urban axis of economic and religious life in Cairo.[1]
It was laid out at the very beginning of Cairo's foundation by the
After the demise of the Fatimid regime in 1171 under
Even with the removal of the royal residences, however, its symbolic importance endured and it remained one of the most prestigious sites to erect the mosques, mausoleums, madrasas and other monumental buildings commissioned by the sultans and the high elites of the regimes. During the
In the 20th century, the construction of a major bypass road known as al-Azhar street, running from modern
Historical buildings of Muizz Street
Below is a list of notable or recorded historic monuments, from many different periods, which are situated today along al-Muizz street.[2] The list goes (roughly) from the north to south, starting at Bab al-Futuh and ending at Bab Zuweila.
The following monuments are on the northern part of al-Muizz street, between Bab al-Futuh and al-Azhar street:
- Mosque of Al Hakim bi Amr Allah (1013)
- Mosque of Sulayman Agha al-Silahdar (1839)
- Bayt al-Suhaymi(1648-1796)
- Mosque of al-Aqmar (1125)
- Sabil-Kuttab of Abdel Rahman Katkhuda(1744)
- Qasr Bashtak (1339)
- Sabil of Ismail Pasha (1828)
- Hammam of Sultan Inal (1456)
- Madrasa of Al-Kamil Ayyub (1229)
- Madrasa of Barquq(1386)
- Madrasa of Al-Nasir Muhammad(1304)
- Complex of Qalawun (1285)
- Sabil-Kuttab of Khusraw Pasha (1535)
- Madrasa of Al-Salih Ayyub(1250)
- Khan al-Khalili: a souq district stretching between al-Muizz street and Mamluk period, with many changes over time.)
- Mosque of Al-Ashraf Barsbay(1425)
- Mosque of Shaykh Ali Al-Mutahhar (1744)
The monuments below are on the southern part of al-Muizz Street, after the intersection with Al-Azhar Street:
- Madrasa of Sultan Al-Ghuri(1505)
- Mausoleum of Sultan Al-Ghuri(1505)
- Fakahani Mosque (1735)
- Sabil of Tusun Pasha (1820)
- Mosque of Muayyad (1420)
- Wikala and Sabil of Nafisa Bayda (1796)
Beyond Bab Zuweila, the path of the road continues further south but goes under different names. A few monuments, however, are clearly located along it, at the exit of Bab Zuweila:
- Zawiya of Farag Ibn Barquq (1408)
- Mosque of Salih Tala'i (1160)
- Qasaba of Radwan Bey (1650)
Rehabilitation project
Starting in 1997,[6][7] the national government carried out extensive renovations to the historical buildings, modern buildings, paving, and sewerage to turn the street into an "open-air museum".[citation needed]
One of the aims of the renovations is to approximate the original appearance of the street. Buildings higher than the level of monuments have been brought down in height and painted an appropriate colour, while the street has been repaved in the original style. 34 monuments along the street and some 67 nearby have been restored. On the other hand, the nighttime appearance of the street has been modernised by the installation of state of the art refined exterior lighting on buildings.[8] To prevent the accumulation of subterranean water – the principal threat to Islamic Cairo – a drainage system has been installed.[citation needed]
References
- ^ a b c d e f Raymond, André (1993). Le Caire. Fayard.
- ^ a b c d e Williams, Caroline (2018). Islamic Monuments in Cairo: The Practical Guide (7th ed.). Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press.
- ^ a b Brett, Michael (2017). The Fatimid Empire. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
- ^ a b Denoix, Sylvie; Depaule, Jean-Charles; Tuchscherer, Michel, eds. (1999). Le Khan al-Khalili et ses environs: Un centre commercial et artisanal au Caire du XIIIe au XXe siècle. Cairo: Institut français d'archéologie orientale.
- ^ Behrens-Abouseif, Doris. 2007. Cairo of the Mamluks: A History of Architecture and its Culture. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press.
- ^ Meixler, Louis (September 28, 1997). "Once-Splendid Medieval Cairo Crumbles Into Ruins". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 9, 2021.
- ^ Daniszewski, John (1998-07-10). "Cairo Tries to Reclaim Lost Treasure Amid City's Trash". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
- ^ El Aref, Nevine (October 4, 2007). "Thoroughfare". Al-Ahram Weekly Online. Archived from the original on 2008-07-12.