The Citadel

Today I went back to Islamic Cairo, and this time I got to actually go atop the Citadel, rather than see it from afar. The Citadel is a massive fortress atop a mountain in the middle of Islamic Cairo, and was constructed in the medieval period. It's a major tourist destination, so I saw lots of Arab school groups, along with some French, British, and Chinese tour groups. Admission is only 25 LE for students for everything inside the Citadel.

The most famous landmark is the Mosque of Mohammed Ali. It's relatively new, as it was built during the reign of Mohammed Ali in the 19th century, but architecturally it's very impressive; it's a Turkish-style mosque. This is the only building you can see clearly from outside the Citadel, due to its size.

Exterior and interior of Mosque of Mohammed Ali.



Afterward I went to the National Military Museum, which was a great visit. The museum building itself once served as the residence for the royal family, so it was built like a mansion. Inside were displays of uniforms, weapons, busts, and other artifacts, from Islamic to present times. The most fascinating part of the museum was the way everything was presented, since it was essentially a collection of nationalist propaganda. Exhibits highlighted Egypt's role in World War I and II and the heroics of the wars against Israel. The exhibits that mentioned President Mubarak (who is a former Air Force General) described him as a brilliant military hero. The best part was that all the English translations were abyssmal, making the exaggerated descriptions even more comical.

Displays outside the military museum.



A MiG-21, evidence of Soviet military support. I know that the Egyptian Air Force actually has a few MiGs still operational.


Exhibits within the military museum.


One of the lavishly decorated hallways of the museum as a former royal residence.


A ridiculous dramatization of President Hosny Mubarak.



I went into the National Police Museum, but it was very small and uninteresting, so I didn't spend much time there.

Outside of the police museum is a terrace with some of the best views of the city I've seen. I could see the Pyramids of Giza, Pyramids of Saqqara, Cairo Tower, all of Islamic Cairo, the Mosque of Sultan Hassan, and everything in between.

View of Cairo from the Citadel. The large mosque in the front is the Mosque of Sultan Hassan.





I was there just at the right time - 3:30 - which is one of the five calls to prayer. Normally when I hear the call to prayer from my apartment, I can hear only one or two mosques at a time. The location of the Citadel atop a mountain and the large number of mosques in Islamic Cairo meant that I could clearly hear dozens and dozens of mosques giving the call to prayer all at once, which is somewhat haunting.

Here is a video showing the call to prayer from the Citadel.




I also went into the Mosque of Nasr Mohammad, located right next to the Mosque of Mohammed Ali.

Interior of the Mosque of Nasr Mohammad


I decided to walk to and from the Citadel, which meant I got to see much more than just riding in a cab. I probably covered seven or eight miles walking today. In my walk back to Downtown, I passed along al-Azhar Street, which is at the edge of Khan al-Khalili market. It was not a good time to pass through there - so many people, so little room. Getting by required a lot of patience, as foot traffic just came to a complete stop. I haven't been to the middle of Khan al-Khalili yet, but if it's anything like that, I won't enjoy that.

It can't be seen from the photos above, but while I was on the Citadel I noticed plumes of smoke rising all the way from Downtown. Since I was heading that direction, I decided to see what happened. The fire was in Attaba, a little bit north of Downtown. There was a crowd watching, and when I mean a crowd, I mean there were at least a thousand people watching the apartment burn. The firemen did not seem very effective. The news article I read online mentioned that the fire was in a historic building and that 17 people were injured.

Fire in Attaba

First desert run

I punctuated the week with an enjoyable run on the outskirts of New Cairo, which was my first run off the track or treadmill since arriving in Egypt. AUC finally has temporary locker rooms and showers set up so I could keep my stuff on campus after my class.

As I've mentioned before, the AUC campus is very much isolated. If you go east out of the campus, you will pass a few other universities and high schools and some upscale developments for several kilometers before you make your way into Maadi and eventually Cairo. In the western direction, AUC is one of the last remaining developed regions until the Red Sea, at least from what I can tell on Google Earth. This isn't to say there isn't anything in that direction, but it seems like only small facilities and isolated residences.

I headed out west of the campus, and for the first few kilometers I passed a few isolated construction sites. One of them included a group of men building a gigantic billboard, about ten times the size of a regular billboard. I suppose land is cheap, so the bigger the advertisement, the better.

The concept of running for sport is completely foreign in Egypt, much less outside of a gym. Every time I would pass a group of construction workers, they would literally stop what they were doing and stare. Some cheered, as if I were running a race.

I carried my pack so I had all the supplies I needed. It is nearly impossible to get lost in the area where I was running - there's only one road and one direction. Additionally, the land is flat enough to see AUC and other landmarks from miles away. Occasionally a taxi or minibus would drive down the road. There are a few wealthy housing developments being constructed in this area, so in five or ten years it probably won't feel like the edge of the city anymore.

A mosque, one of the few buildings west of AUC.


It only took a few miles before I reached a completely barren section, where I was able to run a little on the open desert before turning around.



Of course there are no trees, and there aren't any clouds, so I got a slight sunburn, but nothing serious. The weather was warm but there is a very strong wind which feels very comfortable.

I probably only covered a little over nine miles in total. It's a great place to run, and much safer than anywhere in Cairo.

Nilometer and Coptic Compound

Today is the Mawlad al Naby - Birth of the Prophet Mohammed - which is a national holiday, so I didn't have school. I think some places have celebrations, but just felt like a regular Friday (Sabbath day) here in Cairo.

I visited the Nilometer, which is at the bottom of al-Manial. Manial is an island in the Nile, which is below Zamalek and is slightly longer. It was my first time visiting Manial. It seems heavily populated, but the views of the Nile and Downtown were really nice, and there were a decent amount of trees, which isn't too common outside of Doqqi or Mohandeseen.

Pictures from the tip of Manial.


Men cutting down a tree in Manial.


The Nilometer is a small building with a conical top in Ottoman style. A Nilometer has existed in the region since the time of the Pharaohs, but this particular building was built in the 11th century by the Muslim Caliphs. The purpose of the building, of course, is to measure the annual flood of the Nile. Each year they would have a ceremony at the Nilometer, and if the levels were high, they would rejoice, and if they were low, they would raise taxes and pray for more water.

Top of the Nilometer.


In the 19th century, a dam was built in Aswan, so the Nile doesn't flood anymore. Therefore it is possible to go down to the bottom. The steps down are very narrow and there is no railing, so it's a fairly dangerous descent.

Ornamentation on the top of the Nilometer.


The water-reading pit.



There is a footbridge from Manial to the eastern bank, so I crossed over and went to Coptic Cairo. Somehow when I came to Coptic Cairo last week I missed the entrance to the main part of the compound.

The interior of the Coptic compound consists entirely of narrow alleyways, no more than a few meters wide. Unfortunately taking photographs within the buildings of the Coptic compound is not allowed.

I visited St. Sergius Church, which is a Coptic Church built on the Crypt of the Holy Family. It is believed that the Holy Family lived temporarily in a cave below where the church now stands. I visited it right before it was closing, and there were dozens of young Copts getting ready to pray.

Ben Ezra Synagogue was next to St. Sergius. Before I went in, the police officers asked me and the visitors in front of me a few questions about our identities. I suppose this is to ensure no one with bad intentions will enter the synagogue. I had never been in a synagogue before, but it seemed very small, though the ornamentation was impressive. It is no longer in use for services.

Finally I went to St. Barbara Church, another Coptic Church located right next to the other church and the synagogue. This one was bigger than St. Sergius, though both of the churches had numerous icons inside. Here, too, there were many Copts getting ready for some sort of service. I did not go into the shrine in the back of the church, but all the Copts who went in removed their shoes, which I thought was only a Muslim custom.

A Greek Church within the Coptic compound.