Other notable landmarks of Egypt, and Cairo specifically, are its Mosques. Cairo is known as the city of a thousand minarets, and for a good reason. When we went inside Bab Zuwayla, we climbed up closer to the minarets, and saw maybe a 100 or so minaret, with a variety of different styles, from the pencil like Turkish minaret to the elaborately decorated and wider Egyptian ones. I got a chance to climb up the minaret with a couple of my friends. The minaret got narrower as we got higher and darker. It was a bit scary but I didn’t climb up for no reason, so I went a ahead and climbed further. I was able to get a really nice view from the top, and the whole city looked lovely. On our Islamic Cairo walk, we walked by Bab Al-Nasr and to the Khan. We visited Al- Hussein Mosque, saw Al-Azhar Mosque (the symbol of Cairo) and Mohammad Ali Mosque (which I learned is also a museum).
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| Climbing up the minaret: The stairs getting narrower and narrower and eventually continues on to metal ladder. |
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| The minerettes go up pretty high and once on top you can get a nice view of Cairo around you filled with minarets. |
Love your blog. I can identify to readily with it. I spent two weeks (only two weeks!...) in Egypt in 1984. Long time ago, but it had a profound effect on me. I was so impressed by the people I met. So welcoming!...
ReplyDeleteLike family!
Now in retirement I look forward to returning. A month sounds good. But I know I'll only want more! :-)
Keep up the fine work. It's a great read!