Tremendous day. We got up late and lounged over breakfast, so we didn't have as long to see things as we might have. It feels like we might be mostly past jet lag, though.
When we finally got going, we headed down Adly/Al-Azhar back into the old part of the city, determined we were going to find the most famous mosque in Egypt. It was the task we failed at the yesterday. Lou had read that we'd be walking through the transition between the old European part of the city and the still older Islamic part, and we clearly saw that change in the architecture along the way as boulevards with their big, French Neoclassical buildings gave way to small streets and a thousand years of Islamic architectural styles. It was a fantastic walk from the stylish glitz of our area into the cacophonous, hard-working disorder of Old Cairo.
But there's so much beauty in Islamic Cairo that we were once again pulled off task, this time by a large, intricately-carved structure that looked like it might have been a city gate. We found, however, that it was actually a complex of structures built around 1502 by the last great Mamluk Sultan, Al-Ghouri. The
Mamluks ruled Egypt from 1250-1517 and were slaves brought in from Turkic areas by Egyptian Fatamid monarchs. The monarchs would free the slaves in exchange for their loyalty to the throne, and the Mamluks themselves eventually became the lords of Egypt. Called warrior-slaves, they couldn't leave their money to others, so they became responsible for some of the greatest Islamic structures in the city. The Mamluk era was one of the greatest periods of Egyptian achievement.
And the Al-Ghouri complex was stunning -- massive in scale, ornate, and lavish. We spent most of our time in the mosque, but there's also a madrassa, a tomb, and a wikala (an inn for traders traveling on the east-west caravan routes). The mosque itself had a sunken central court of inlaid marble and small side chambers with vaulted ceilings and stained glass. Lou and I settled into the atmosphere there and read about the history of the place while watching a persistent kitten try to rub the feet of people praying as an equally persistent young guy gently tried to turn the cat away. Pictures hardly do the place justice, but the 19th century engravings by David Roberts honestly catch the way light flows through it. And a warning: Don't fall for the joke about who's buried in Sultan Al-Ghouri's tomb. We stayed here much longer than we intended.
Back out into the din, we stopped off for a kofta lunch and finally made it to Al-Azhar as the sun began to ease low. This is a real monument. Founded shortly after the city itself in 970 AD, Al-Azhar has been a center of learning for well over a thousand years; it's the second oldest continually-running university in the world after one in Fez, Morocco. Its central area is an expanse of marble-topped pavement, and the wide colonnaded area on one side is where the Al-Azhar's 1000+ years of teaching has happened. Even when we were there, several teachers had groups of students sitting around them listening. What a marvelous thing to see a millennium-old practice still vibrant.
Unfortunately, most of the exterior of the Al-Azhar was covered in scaffolding though we could still sense the scale and beauty. There were a lot of fun details, too, like the sundial that would have served as the clock for the school. I especially liked the entrance we went through, the Gate of the Barbers. The name comes from the fact that barbers here shaved the kids' heads for school, but what impressed me was an image in stucco above the door. The graphic of a cyprus is exactly the same image as the center of a tile panel that I'd bought the previous day at an antique shop to use in my kitchen. Any of you muslims know the significance of the cyprus?
Since the day was clearly getting away from us by this point, we headed over to a square that we've dubbed "San Marco" because of the cafes that line one side of it. And we became tout fodder. The Egyptians are probably the nicest people to tourists I've ever met, but the minute we got close to the Al-Azhar and the square, we were bombarded with guides, people with craft factories and guys wanting to practice their English. And it was far worse near the cafes. But we wanted some coffee, so we gave in and let ourselves get herded into one, where we sat, sipped coffee and watched the touts harass those who hadn't given in yet. It was mildly gratifying to see the touts go after absolutely everyone regardless of national origin.
We walked back toward our hotel wandering through a part of the Khan al-Kahlili, an ancient, meandering maze of a market that we thought would lead us back to the area we'd walked around the previous day. And it did! Along the way, we walked through the coppersmiths' part of the market and watched a guy hammering out complicated patterns into items made of metal. Lou spied a great brass photo frame in the workshop and, after talking a bit with the guy, we asked for a few alterations and agreed to stop back by for it tomorrow. He was a great guy, proud of his work. The frame had a raw patina, and he wanted to polish it so it would look good for Lou, but Lou naturally wanted the older-looking unfinished patina. The coppersmith wasn't thrilled not to finish the project, but money talks in Egypt, so it will remain unfinished. And we'll be back in Khan al-Kahlili tomorrow.
It was dark by this time, so we walked back home in the chaos and noise of the Old City's night market.
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