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Cairo · History

Caliphs and Sultans: from Bab al-Nasr to Bab Zuwayla

In 969 a Fatimid general laid out al-Qahira here, the palace city of the caliphs. This route crosses it from north to south, gate to gate, along al-Muizz Street, and shows how Fatimids, Mamluks and Ottomans left their mark in stone along a little under two kilometres.

  • 6 stops
  • 2 km
  • 1 h 45 min
  • Free
Start with GPS Read about this stop 1
Bab Zuwayla with its two rounded towers and the twin minarets of the Mosque of al-Muayyad

The route

Stop by stop

  1. 1 Bab al-Nasr and the Fatimid WallsTwo stone towers from 1087 guard the northern entrance to the city of the caliphs, and high up you can still read the names of Napoleon's officers.
  2. 2 The Mosque of al-HakimThe great mosque of the most unpredictable Fatimid caliph, who banned molokhia and vanished one night in the hills.
  3. 3 The al-Aqmar MosqueA facade from 1125 that was the first in Cairo to be decorated from top to bottom, with a great shell and two names hidden at its heart.
  4. 4 The Qalawun Complex at Bayn al-QasraynA hospital, a school and a mausoleum raised in about thirteen months on the ruins of a caliph's palace.
  5. 5 The Complex of Sultan al-GhuriTwin buildings facing each other across the street, and a mausoleum still waiting for a sultan whose body was never found.
  6. 6 Bab ZuwaylaThe southern gate of the Fatimid city, crowned by two minarets, where the last Mamluk sultan was hanged.

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Walk it with GPS.

Open guide mode on your phone: you’ll see your position and the distance to each stop, and we’ll let you know when you arrive. Then read or listen.

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  1. Turn on your location

  2. Walk to the spot

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What you’ll discover

Caliphs and Sultans: from Bab al-Nasr to Bab Zuwayla

Two gates in the wall

Bab al-Nasr and Bab Zuwayla, both over nine hundred years old, open and close the walk.

A street of monuments

Al-Muizz holds one of the world's densest concentrations of medieval Islamic architecture.

Stories with names

A caliph who vanished, a vizier who was executed and a sultan with no grave.

Keep exploring

More routes in Cairo

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