subject: Exploring Monuments In The Al Mui [print this page] Al Muiz le Deen Allah was the Fatimid Caliph who conquered Egypt with the Fatimid armies in 969 and the street that still holds his name in Islamic Cairo today was once the main rout of life and maybe the only major street in Fatimid Cairo. Many Egypt tours include a visit to Islamic Cairo.
People used to enter from Bab Zweila in the South and then exit from Bab El Fetooh at the North. Many monuments were erected in the street throughout a long period of time that extends over around 1000 years, from the Fatimids, Mamluks, and then the Ottomans and the sons of Mohamed Ali.
The Muiz le Deen Allah Street moves inline with the famous Khan El Khalili, the most famous touristic market in Egypt and maybe the whole world. This market is visited by hundreds of tourists who spend their Egypt Vacations.
Wikala of Al Ghoury
The Wikala, also known as a Khan or a caravanserai, was the hotel where merchants and businessmen arriving from Africa and the Arab Peninsula used to stay.
Other than a place for merchants to stay, the Wikala provided stables for horses, a storage section so they merchants can keep their goods and communalities, and a section where businessmen can make trading deals with other merchants. The Wikala of Al Ghoury is one of the most fascinating Islamic monuments in Cairo that is visited by many travelers during Egypt Travel.
The typical layout of a Wikala had a receptacle shape that contained a center courtyard that is surrounded with a building consisting of many floors all around it and a gate that was used to be locked up at night.
The ground floor of the Wikala used to contain the stables and the storage rooms while the tradesmen used to stay in private chambers in the upper floors.
During the reign of the Mamluks considered to be one of Cairos golden periods, when trading was flourishing in Cairo and other sections of Egypt especially ports, the Wikalas of Cairo used to consist of four or five floors to accommodate the large number of tradesmen that used to visit the city, but unfortunately non of these great structures remained until today.
The finest and best preserved example of a Wikala in Cairo is that of Al Ghoury. It was constructed in the beginning of the 17th century with three floors and a wide open courtyard.
The Wikala of Al Ghoury hosts a number of fascinating Mashrabeya screens in the upper floors and a wonderful fountain in the courtyard. Some sections of the structure have undergone extensive restoration work and it is now opened for public.
The Wikala is now used as a center for crafts and arts. The rooms of the Wikala have been converted into workshops for handicrafts, art studious, and traditional colored glass productions.
It also hosts a wonderful Tanoora dance show, or whirling dervishes, performances twice a week and they are free of charge. The performers of these dance shows are members of the Sufi Islamic sect in Egypt.
Sufis were mainly characterized by poverty, self denial, and used to wear rough wool clothes next to their skin. The word Sufi is actually derived from the word Souf, which means wool in the Arabic language.
The Sufis aspire through many activities that include meditation, recitation, religious dances and music to attain the relationship with god.
The wrilling dervishes were named that way because of their spinning dances when performers wear colorful outfits and spin around thousands of time in a marvelous scene that always amaze the viewers. Many tourists who spend their Egypt Packages enjoy these Tanoora dance shows.
These performances, being showed twice a week in the Wikala of Al Ghoury, have become quite appreciated by tourists who travel to Egypt. The performances are enjoyable and present an idea about one of the religious and cultural aspects of Cairo. Many custom tours to Egypt may include a visit to the Wikala of Al Ghoury.
