More Touloun

Interior details

Touloun vaults

Touloun minaret

Have you seen this beauty? Ooh, I can rave for hours about it...

Ibn Touloun

Well, I can't hide it from you any longer I think. This is my favourite of the old Cairo mosques, hiden away deep down in medieval Cairo. It's one of the oldest in the city, from late 8th or early 9th century - said to be the first large Friday mosque in Cairo. Certainly the oldest remaining at least. Look at the details of the architecture. Much more reminiscent of sand and dunes than of the later elaborate styles, so simple and plain but yet soooo elegant...




I have a whole range of pictures of different angles of this structure, so bear with me for a bit!

Muhammad Ali outline

Well, I am sorry for the chronological jumps, but I found also these exteriors of the Muhammad Ali mosque to show. The clock in the tower covered in rebuilding apparel was given by the French monarch in exchange for the obelisk in Paris - but the clock never worked after being delivered, 150 years ago.

But I've still saved my favourite of the Cairo mosques....

Sultan Hassan interior

Unfortunately, the inside of the madrasa was far too dark for successful photos, but here is the courtyard at least.

Closer

More detailed views if the Sultan Hassan and the Rifaiyye.

Muhammad Ali mosque

Interiors, of courtyard and ceiling.

Mosques

This is the Madrasa of Sultan Hassan & the Rifaiyye Mosque (which is more modern), taken from the citadel. And then me outside them.

Details of the Khan

These features often get lost among the people, the noise and the merchandise.

Khan el-Khalili

Another classic Middle East market. I love the Khan el-Khalili, for the bustle, the architecture, the shopping - everything! An important part of any travel experience is also food, not to mention tasting local bread.

Islamic architecture

A great leap forward in the time-line of history to the so-called Islamic Cairo and the buildings of Muslim veneration on the outskirts of the Khan el-Khalili. Here you can find both the mosque of Imam Hussein and the Azhar Univerity.

Gizeh by night

The pyramids are no less impressive in the dark.

Gizeh again

Here he is again, up close this time.

Father of Fear!

Abu l-Houl, is the Arabic name of the sphinx. I always find him calming and majestic, in his enormity. Even if he lost his nose to Napoelons troops - who used him as a shot-target...!

Gizeh complex

The pyramids aren't actually alone in their historic majesty. The plateau has several other structures on it - some still only partly excavatated.

Pyramids...

... in aeterno. (Yes, that was a linguistic mess. But few works fit the latin term better!)

The remaining worldly wonders

Oh yes, it may seem like a cliche, but they ARE magnificent!

Umm ad-Dunya

Arriving at Ramses station, you really get straight into the crowds and the heat, the traffic and the mixture of old and new that makes CAIRO.

5000 years

of agricultural history, is what you see from the train, when travelling southward through the Nile Delta to Cairo. I am completely amazed by the history, culture and people that have emerged from this mind-boggling fact.

Family roots!

Another very important feature of the library is to be found on display in the mosaic museum in the basement. When excavating the foundations, believed to be located near the original library site, a mosaic picturing an ancient doggy forefather of Sniff was found!

Bibliotheca Alexandrina

The still fairly recent rebuild of the Alexandria library of antique fame. Look at the architecture! I love it!

Alexandria sights

This is the Qaitbey fortress. It' s in the place of the Pharos lighthouse of fame since antiquity. Some of the stones are supposed to have been recycled too.



And the Roman amphitheatre, sunk down in a hollow close to the railway station - a curiously calm location in the city centre. The audio effects of the stage centre point is amazing!

Dreaming away...

... back to summer and sun. I'm getting rather sick of snow and ice right now. So I'll go back to our wedding trip to Egypt in October and show you some sunlight beauty.





These are the view from our hotel room in the Cecil in Alexandria, where we stayed for our wedding and one additional night.

Speaking of classic Mideast hotels - I remembered one more we haven't stayed in yet. The American Colony in Jerusalem, of course!

Kayseri psychiatric ward

Yes, the memory of this was what lead me back to show you these pictures. The ward corridor and the adjoining hammam - for treatments.