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CAIRO (Arabic Misr-al-Kahira, or simp...

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Originally appearing in Volume V04, Page 957 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CAIRO (Arabic Misr-al-Kahira, or simply Misr)  , the See also:capital of See also:modern See also:Egypt and the rriost populous See also:city in See also:Africa, on the See also:Nile, 1a m . S. of the See also:apex of the See also:Delta, in 300 3' N. and 31° 21' E . It is z3o m . S.E. of See also:Alexandria, and 148 E. of See also:Suez by See also:rail, though only 84 m. from the last-named See also:port by the overland route across the See also:desert, in use before the opening of the Suez See also:Canal . See also:Cairo occupies a length of 5 M . On the See also:east See also:bank of the Nile, stretching See also:north from the old See also:Roman fortress of See also:Babylon, and covers an See also:area of about 8 sq. m . It is built partly on the alluvial See also:plain of the Nile valley and partly on the rocky slopes of the Mokattam hills, which rise 550 ft. above the See also:town . The citadel, which is built on a See also:spur of the Mokattam hills, occupies the S.E. See also:angle of the city . The prospect from the ramparts of this fortress is one of striking picturesqueness and beauty . Below lies the city with its See also:ancient walls and lofty towers, its gardens and squares, its palaces and its mosques, with their delicately-carved domes and minarets covered with fantastic See also:tracery, the port of Bulak, the gardens and See also:palace of Shubra, the broad See also:river studded with islands, the valley of the Nile dotted with See also:groups of trees, with the pyramids on the north See also:horizon, and on the east the barren cliffs, backed by a See also:waste of See also:sand . Since the See also:middle of the 19th See also:century the city has more than doubled in See also:size and See also:population . The newer quarters, situated near the river, are laid out in the See also:fashion of See also:French cities, but the eastern parts of the town retain, almost unimpaired, their See also:Oriental aspect, and in scores of narrow, tortuous streets, and busy bazaars it is easy to forget that there has been any See also:change from the Cairo of See also:medieval times .

Here the See also:

line of fortifications still marks the eastern limits of the city, though on the north large districts have grown up beyond the walls . Neither on the See also:south nor towards the river are there any fortifications See also:left . See also:Principal Quarters and Modern Buildings.—From the citadel a straight road, the Sharia . Mehemet See also:Ali, runs N. to the Ezbekia (Ezbekiyeh) Gardens, which See also:cover over 20 acres, and See also:form the central point of the See also:foreign See also:colony . North and See also:west of the Ezbekia runs the See also:Ismailia canal, and on the W. See also:side of the canal, about See also:half a mile N. of the Gardens, is the Central railway station, approached by a broad road, the Sharia See also:Clot See also:Bey . The Arab city and the quarters of the See also:Copts and See also:Jews See also:lie E. of the two streets named . West of the Ismailia canal lies the Bulak See also:quarter, the port or See also:riverside See also:district . At Bulak are the See also:arsenal, foundry and railway See also:works, a See also:paper manufactory and the See also:government See also:printing See also:press, founded by Mehemet Ali . A little distance S.E. of the Ezbekia is the See also:Place Atabeh, the See also:chief point of intersection of the electric tramways which serve the newer parts of the town . From the Place Atabeh a narrow See also:street, the Muski, leads E. into the See also:heart of the Arab city . Another street leads S.W. to the Nile, at the point where the Kasr en Nil or See also:Great Nile See also:bridge spans the river, leading to Gezira Bulak, an See also:island whereon is a palace, now turned into a hotel, See also:polo, See also:cricket and See also:tennis grounds, and a racecourse . The districts between the bridge, the Ezbekia and the Ismailia canal, are known as the Ismailia and Tewfikia quarters, after the khedives in whose reigns they were laid out .

The district immediately south of the bridge is called the Kasr el-Dubara quarter . Abdin Square, which occupies a central position, is connected with Ezbekia Gardens by a straight road . The narrow canal, El Khalig, which branched from the Nile at Old Cairo and traversed the city from S.W. to N.E., was filled up in 1897, and an electric See also:

tramway runs along the road thus made . With the filling up of the channel the ancient festival of the cutting of the canal came to an end . The government offices and other modern public buildings are nearly all in the western half of the city . On the south side of the Ezbekia are the See also:post See also:office, the courts of the See also:International Tribunals,and the See also:opera See also:house . On theeastsidearethebourseand the See also:Credit Lyonnais, on the north the buildings of the See also:American See also:mission . On or near the west side of the gardens are most of the large and luxurious hotels which the city contains for the See also:accommodation of Europeans . Facing the river immediately north of the Great Nile bridge are the large See also:barracks, called Kasr-en-Nil, and the new museum of See also:Egyptian antiquities (opened in 1902) . South of the bridge are the Ismailia palace (a khedivial See also:residence), the See also:British consulate See also:general, the palace of the See also:khedive's See also:mother, the medical school and the government See also:hospital . Farther removed from the river are the offices of the ministries of public works and of See also:war—a large See also:building surrounded by gardens—and of See also:justice and See also:finance . On the east side of Abdin Square is Abdin palace, an unpretentious building used for See also:official receptions .

Adjoining the palace are barracks . N.E. of Abdin Square, in the Sharia Mehemet Ali, is the Arab museum and khedivial library . Near this building are the new courts of the native tribunals . Private houses in these western districts consist chiefly of residential flats, though in the Kasr el-Dubara quarter are many detached residences . The Oriental City.—The eastern half of Cairo is divided into many quarters . These quarters were formerly closed at See also:

night by massive See also:gates . A few of these gates remain . In addition to the See also:Mahommedan quarters, usually called after the See also:trade of the inhabitants or some notable building, there are the Copt or See also:Christian quarter, the Jews' quarter and the old " See also:Frank " quarter . The last is the Muski district where, since the days of See also:Saladin, " Frank " merchants have been permitted to live and trade . Some of the principal See also:European shops are still to be found in this street . The Copt and Jewish quarters lie north of the Muski . The Coptic See also:cathedral, dedicated to St See also:Mark, is a modern building in the See also:basilica See also:style .

The See also:

oldest Coptic See also:church in Cairo is, probably, the Keniset-el-See also:Adra, or Church of the Virgin, which is stated to preserve the See also:original type of Coptic basilica . The Coptic churches in the city are not, however, of so much See also:interest as those in Old Cairo (see below) . In the Copt quarter are also Armenian, Syrian, Maronite, See also:Greek and Roman See also:Catholic churches . In the Copt and Jewish quarters the streets, as in the Arab quarters, are winding and narrow . In them the projecting upper stories of the houses nearly meet . Sebils or public fountains are numerous . These fountains are generally two-storeyed, the See also:lower chamber enclosing a well, the upper See also:room being often used for scholastic purposes . Many of the fountains are See also:fine specimens of Arab See also:architecture . While the houses of the poorer classes are mean and too often dirty, in marked contrast are the houses of the wealthier citizens, built generally in a style of elaborate See also:arabesque, the windows shaded with projecting cornices of graceful woodwork (mushrebiya) and ornamented with stained See also:glass . A winding passage leads through the ornamental See also:doorway into the See also:court, in the centre of which is a See also:fountain shaded with See also:palm-trees . The principal apartment is generally paved with See also:marble; in the centre a decorated See also:lantern is suspended over a fountain, while See also:round the sides are richly inlaid cabinets and windows of stained glass; and in a See also:recess is the See also:divan, a See also:low, narrow, cushioned seat . The See also:basement See also:storey is generally built of the soft calcareous See also:stone of the neighbouring hills, and the upper storey, which contains the See also:harem, of painted See also:brick .

The shops of the merchants are small and open to the street . The greater See also:

part of the trade isdone, however, in the bazaars or markets, which are held in large khans or storehouses, of two storeys and of considerable size . See also:Access to them is gained from the narrow lanes which usually surround them . The khans often possess fine gateways . The principal See also:bazaar, the See also:Khan-el-Khalil, marks the site of the tombs of the Fatimite caliphs . The Citadel and the Mosques.—Besides the citadel, the principal edifices in the Arab quarters are the mosques and the ancient gates . The citadel or El-Kala was built by Saladin about 1166, but it has since undergone frequent alteration, and now contains a palace erected by Mehemet Ali, and a See also:mosque of Oriental See also:alabaster (based on the See also:model of the mosques at See also:Constantinople) founded by the same See also:pasha on the site of " See also:Joseph's See also:Hall," so named after the prenomen of Saladin . The See also:dome and the two slender minarets of this mosque form one of the most picturesque features of Cairo, and are visible from a great distance . In the centre is a well called Joseph's Well, sunk in the solid See also:rock to the level of the Nile . There are four other mosques within the citadel walls, the chief being that of See also:Ibn Kalaun, built in A.D . 1317 by See also:Sultan Nasir ibn Kalaun . The dome has fallen in .

After having been used as a See also:

prison, and, later, as a military storehouse, it has been cleared and its fine colonnades are again visible . The upper parts of the minarets are covered with See also:green tiles . They are furnished with bulbous cupolas . The most magnificent of the city mosques is that of Sultan See also:Hasan, See also:standing in the immediate vicinity of the citadel . It See also:dates from A.D . 1357, and is celebrated for the grandeur of its See also:porch and See also:cornice and the delicate stalactite vaulting which adorns them . The restoration of parts of the mosque which had fallen into decay was begun in 1904 . Besides it there is the mosque of Tulun (c . A.D . 879) exhibiting very ancient specimens of the pointed See also:arch; the mosque of Sultan El Hakim (A.D . 1003), the mosque el Azhar (the splendid), which dates from about A.D . 970, and is the seat of a Mahommedan university; and the mosque of Sultan Kalaun, which is attached to the hospital or madhouse (muristan) begun by Kalaun in A.D .

1285 . The whole forms a large See also:

group of buildings, now partially in ruins, in a style resembling the contemporaneous medieval See also:work in See also:Europe, with pointed See also:arches in several orders . Besides the mosque proper there is a second mosque containing the fine See also:mausoleum of Kalaun . Adjacent to the muristan on the north is the See also:tomb mosque of al Nasir, completed 1303, with a fine portal . East of the Khan-el-Khalil is the mosque of El Hasanen, which is invested with See also:peculiar sanctity as containing See also:relics of Hosain and Hasan, grandsons of the See also:Prophet . This mosque was rebuilt in the 19th century and is of no architectural importance . In all Cairo contains over 26o mosques, and nearly as many zawias or chapels . Of the gates the finest are the Bab-en-Nasr, in the north See also:wall of the city, and the Bab-ez-Zuwela, the only surviving part of the See also:southern fortifications . Tombs of the Caliphs and Mamelukes.—Beyond the eastern wall of the city are the splendid mausolea erroneously known to Europeans as the tombs of the caliphs; they really are tombs of the Circassian or Burji Mamelukes, a See also:race extinguished by Mehemet Ali . Their lofty gilt domes and fanciful network or arabesque tracery are partly in ruins, and the mosques attached to them are also partly ruined . The chief tomb mosques are those of Sultan Barkuk, with two domes and two minarets, completed A.D . 1410, and that of Kait Bey (c .

1470), with a slender See also:

minaret 135 ft. high . This mosque was carefully re-stored in 1898 . South of the citadel is another group of tomb-mosques known as the tombs of the Mamelukes . They are architecturally of less interest than those of the " caliphs." Southwest of the See also:Mameluke tombs is the much-venerated tomb-mosque of the See also:Imam esh-Shafih or See also:Shari, founder of one of the four orthodox sects of See also:Islam . Near the imam's mosque is a See also:family See also:burial-place built by Mehemet Ali . Old Cairo: the Fortress of Babylon and the Nilometer.—About a mile south of the city is Masr-el-Atika, called by Europeans Old Cairo . Between Old Cairo and the newer city are large mounds of debris marking the site of Fostat (see below, See also:History) . The road to Old Cairo by the river leads past the monastery of the " Howling " Dervishes, and the See also:head of the See also:aqueduct which formerly supplied the citadel with See also:water . Farther to the east is the mosque of Amr, a much-altered building dating from A.D . 643 and containing the tomb of the Arab conqueror of Egypt . Most important of the quarters of Masr-el-Atika is that of Kasr-esh-Shama (See also:Castle of the See also:Candle), built within the See also:outer walls of the Roman fortress of Babylon . Several towers of this fortress remain, and in the south wall is a massive gateway, uncovered in 1901 .

In the quarter are five Coptic churches, a Greek See also:

convent and two churches, and a See also:synagogue . The principal Coptic church is that of See also:Abu Serga (St See also:Sergius) . The See also:crypt dates from about the 6th century and is dedicated to Sitt Miriam (the See also:Lady See also:Mary), from a tradition that in the See also:flight into Egypt the Virgin and See also:Child rested at this spot . The upper church is basilican in form, the See also:nave being, as customary in Coptic churches, divided into three sections by wooden screens, which are adorned by carvings in See also:ivory and See also:wood . The wall above the high See also:altar is faced with beautiful mosaics of See also:marbles, See also:blue glass and mother-of-See also:pearl . Of the other churches in Kasresh-Shama the most noteworthy is that of El Adra (the Virgin), also called El Moallaka, or The Suspended, being built in one of the towers of the Roman gateway . It contains fine wooden and ivory screens . The See also:pulpit is supported on fifteen columns, which See also:rest on a slab of See also:white marble . The See also:patriarch of the Copts was formerly consecrated in this church . The other buildings in Old Cairo, or among the mounds of rubbish which adjoin it, include several fort-like See also:dens or convents . One, south of the Kasresh-Shama, is called Der Bablun, thus preserving the name of the ancient fortress . In the Der Abu Sephin, to the north of Babylon, is a Coptic church of the loth century, possessing magnificent carved screens, a pulpit with fine mosaics and a semi-circle of marble steps .

Opposite Old Cairo lies the island of Roda, where, according to Arab tradition, See also:

Pharaoh's daughter found See also:Moses in the bulrushes . Two See also:bridges, opened in 1908, connect Old Cairo with Roda, and a third bridge joins Roda to Giza on the west bank of the river . Roda Island contains a mosque built by Kait Bey, and at its southern extremity is the Nilometer, by which the Cairenes have for over a thousand years measured the rise of the river . It is a square well with an octagonal See also:pillar marked in cubits in the centre . See also:Northern and Western Suburbs.—Two See also:miles N.E. of Cairo and on the edge of the desert is the suburb of Abbasia (named after the See also:viceroy Abbas), connected with the city by a continuous line of houses . Abbasia is now largely a military colony, the See also:cavalry barracks being the old palace of Abbas Pasha . In these barracks Arabi Pasha surrendered to the British on the 14th of See also:September 1882, the See also:day after the See also:battle of Tel el-Kebir . Mataria, a See also:village 3 M. farther to the N.E., is the site of the defeat of the Mamelukes by the See also:Turks in 1517, and of the defeat of the Turks by the French under General Kleber in 1800 . At Mataria was a sycamore-See also:tree, the successor of a tree which decayed in 1665, venerated as being that beneath which the See also:Holy Family, rested on their flight into Egypt . This tree was blown down in See also:July 1906 and its place taken by a cutting made from the tree some years previously . Less than a mile N.E. of Mataria are the scanty remains of the ancient city of On or See also:Heliopolis, The chief See also:monument is an See also:obelisk, about 66 ft. high, erected by Usertesen I. of the Nllth See also:dynasty . A residential suburb, named Heliopolis, containing many fine buildings, was laid out between Mataria and Abbasia during 1905-10 .

Phoenix-squares

On the west bank of the Nile, opposite the southern end of Roda Island, is the small town of Giza or Gizeh, a fortified place of considerable importance in the times of the Mamelukes . In the viceregal palace here the museum of Egyptian antiquities was housed for several years (1889-1902) . The grounds of this palace have been converted into zoological gardens . A broad, tree-bordered, macadamized road, along which run electric trams, leads S.S.W. across the plain to the Pyramids of Giza, 5 m. distant, built on the edge of the desert . Helwan.—Fourteen miles S. of Cairo and connected with it by railway is the town of Helwan, built in the desert 3 M . E. of the Nile, and much frequented by invalids on See also:

account of its See also:sulphur See also:baths, which are owned by the Egyptian government . A khedivial astronomical See also:observatory was built here in 1903-1904, to take the place of that at Abbasia, that site being no longer suitable in consequence of the northward See also:extension of the city . The ruins of See also:Memphis are on the E. bank of the Nile opposite Helwan . Inhabitants.—The inhabitants are of many diverse races, the various nationalities being frequently distinguishable by See also:differences in See also:dress as well as in See also:physiognomy and See also:colour . In the oriental quarters of the city the curious shops, the markets of different trades (the shops of each trade being generally congregated in one street or district), the easy See also:merchant sitting before his See also:shop, the musical and See also:quaint street-cries of the picturesque vendors of See also:fruit, See also:sherbet, water, &c., with the ever-changing and many-coloured throng of passengers, all render the streets a delightful study for the See also:lover of Arab See also:life, nowhere else to be seen in such perfection, or with so fine a background of magnificent buildings . The Cairenes, or native citizens, differ from the fellahin in having a much larger mixture of Arab See also:blood, and are at once keener witted and more conservative than the peasantry . The Arabic spoken by the middle and higher classes is generally inferior in grammatical correctness and See also:pronunciation to that of the See also:Bedouins of See also:Arabia, but is purer than that of See also:Syria or the See also:dialect spoken by the Western See also:Arabs .

Besides the Cairenes proper, who are largely engaged in trade or handicrafts, the inhabitants include Arabs, See also:

numbers of Nubians and Negroes—mostly labourers or domestics in nominal See also:slavery—and many Levantines, there being considerable colonies of Syrians and Armenians . The higher classes of native society are largely of See also:Turkish or semi-Turkish descent . Of other races the most numerous are Greeks, Italians, British, French and Jews . Bedouins from the desert frequent the bazaars . At the beginning of the 19th century the population was estimated at about 200,000, made up of 120,000 Moslems, 6o,000 Copts, 4000 Jews and 16,000 Greeks, Armenians and " See also:Franks." In 1882 the population had risen to 374,000, in 1897 to 570,062, and in 1907, including Helwan and Mataria, the See also:total population was 654,476, of whom 46,507 were Europeans . See also:Climate and See also:Health.—In consequence of its insanitary See also:condition, Cairo used to have a heavy See also:death-See also:rate . Since the British occupation in 1882 much has been done to better this See also:state of things, notably by a See also:good water-See also:supply and a proper See also:system of drainage . The death-rate of the native population is about 35 per 'coo . The climate of the city is generally healthy, with a mean temperature of about 68° F . Though See also:rain seldom falls, exhalations from the river, especially when the See also:flood has begun to subside, render the districts near the Nile See also:damp during September, See also:October and See also:November, and in See also:winter See also:early See also:morning fogs are not uncommon . The prevalent north See also:wind and the rise of the water tend to keep the See also:air cool in summer . See also:Commerce.—The commerce of Cairo, of considerable extent and variety, consists mainly in the transit of goods .

See also:

Gum, ivory, hides, and See also:ostrich feathers from the See also:Sudan, See also:cotton and See also:sugar from Upper Egypt, See also:indigo and shawls from See also:India and See also:Persia, See also:sheep and See also:tobacco from See also:Asiatic See also:Turkey, and European manufactures, such as machinery, hardware, See also:cutlery, glass, and cotton and woollen goods, are the more important articles . The See also:traffic in slaves ceased in 1877 . In Bulak are several factories founded by Mehemet Ali for See also:spinning, See also:weaving and printing cotton, and a paper-See also:mill established by the khedive See also:Ismail in 187o . .Various kinds of paper are manufactured, and especially a fine quality for use in the government offices . In the Island of Roda there is a sugar-refinery of considerable extent, founded in 1859, and principally managed by Englishmen . See also:Silk goods, See also:saltpetre, See also:gunpowder, See also:leather, &c., are also manufactured . An See also:octroi See also:duty of 9 % ad valorem formerly levied on all See also:food stuffs entering the city was abolished in 1903 . It used to produce about 150,000 per annum . Mahommedan Architecture.—Architecturally considered Cairo is still the most remarkable and characteristic of Arab cities . The edifices raised by the Moorish See also:kings of See also:Spain and the Moslem rulers of India may have been more splendid in their materials, and more elaborate in their details; the houses of the great men of See also:Damascus may be more costly than were those of the Mameluke beys; but for purity of See also:taste and elegance of See also:design both are far excelled by many of the mosques and houses of Cairo . These mosques have suffered much in the beauty of their See also:appearance from the effects of See also:time and neglect; but their colour has been often thus softened, and their outlines rendered the more picturesque . What is most to be admired in their style of architecture is its extraordinary freedom from See also:restraint, shown in the wonderful variety of its forms, and the skill in design which has made the most intricate details to harmonize with See also:grand outlines .

Here the student may best learn the history of Arab See also:

art . Like its contemporary See also:Gothic, it has three great periods, those of growth, maturity and decline . Of the first, the mosque of Ahmed Ibn-Tulun in the southern part of Cairo, and the three great gates of the city, the Bab-en-Naar, Bab-el-Futuh and Bab-Zuwela, are splendid examples . The design of these entrance gateways is extremely See also:simple and massive, depending for their effect on the fine See also:ashlar See also:masonry in which they are built, the decoration being more or less confined to ornamental disks . The mosque of Tulun was built entirely in brick, and is the earliest instance of the employment of the pointed arch in Egypt . The See also:curve of the arch turns in slightly below the springing, giving a See also:horse-See also:shoe shape . Built in brick, it was found necessary to give a more monumental appearance to the walls by a casing of See also:stucco, which remains in See also:fair preservation to the See also:present day . This led to the enrichment of the archivolts and imposts with that peculiar type of conventional foliage which characterizes Mahommedan work, and which in this See also:case was carried out by Coptic craftsmen . The attached angle-shafts of piers are found here for the first time, and their capitals are enriched, as also the See also:frieze surmounting the walls, with other conventional patterns . The second. See also:period passes from the highest point to which this art attained to a luxuriance promising decay . The mosque of sultan Hasan, below the citadel, those of Muayyad and Kalaun, with the Barkukiya and the mosque of Barkuk in the See also:cemetery of Kait Bey, are instances of the second and more matured style of the period . The simple plain ashlar masonry still predominates, but the wall See also:surface is broken up with s