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Rhoda
Island and Garden City
 From
here, lets move back east across the Tahrir Bridge back to the
east side of the Nile. Once across, turn left on the road that
boarders to Nile. This is Corniche of the Nile, and one will soon
arrive in Garden City. This area is worth a look around, as there
are some fine old houses and a few upscale stores in the area.
Many of the buildings here date from between 1925 and 1935, an
era of Art Deco. However, continuing down the street we eventually
come along side Rhoda Island.
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 During
Pharaonic times, Rhoda was part of ancient Heliopolis. Later, it
had a fortress during Roman times complementing that of Babylon
on the mainland. It was formed prior to Gezira, and the island's
landmass has not changed much since the 7th century. Early on after
the Islamic conquest, there were impressive buildings, towers and
arsenals and an Arab fortress built here. At the southern end of
the Island a Nilometer (32) was built and there is also the Manasterli
Palace (33), but these are best visited from the area of old Cairo
by river bus. The last Ayyubid sultan transferred the seat of government
to the island and built a new fortress, palaces and a barracks around
1240, but the Mamlouks returned the government to the Citadel. There
were once many beautiful residences here, and the Manial Gardens
covered a considerable section of the island, but today, it is mostly
a residential district. Most of what there is to see, is at the
very northern and southern tips of the island. |
Gezira Island
Gezira was mostly uninhabited and undeveloped into the mid 19th
century. After the modern (central) city of Cairo was developed,
Mohammed Ali built a palace and guard house at the northern tip.
Apparently, there were problems with these buildings and the complex
became known as Zamalek, which in Turkish translates to 'makeshift
dwelling'. The northern section of the island is now called Zamalek.
Later, the Khedive Ismail built a large palace in the center of
the island with a huge garden, along with building up the sides
of the island and a jetty to make access easier. At that time, the
gardens contained exotic plant life and a collectionof African animals,
fountains, pavilions and the Gezira Salamlik. |
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Downtown
 There
is a good chance that most tourist and businessmen visiting Cairo
will end up in central Cairo which is located on the east bank
of the Nile. Standing on the 6th of October bridge, one may see
both the Ramses and Nile Hiltons, the InterContinental (5) on
the east side and the Cairo Sheraton and Cairo Marriott on the
west, as well as many other smaller hotels.
Today, parts of this area are bustling with tourists, students,
and Egyptians both at work and play because here one finds clusters
of eating establishments including western fast foods, clubs and
bars (particularly in the hotels), movies, banks and all manner
of shops, along with the press district about half way between
the Egyptian Museum and Ramses Station. This is not an old area
of Cairo, or at least there are really no true antiquities to
see.
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Heliopolis
 Heliopolis
is a suburb of Cairo located to the north east, though there is
no break between the cities as there was when it was first constructed
in 1906. At that time the building style of the city, known as
Masr al-Gedida or New Cairo had a mix of architecture set in a
garden environment which reflected the tastes of the original
promoter, Baron Empain, who built the Tram system in Cairo. Originally
there was a strictly enforced building code with considerable
neo-Arabic style used in buildings, but there are also some exotic
dwellings in the area. Originally, it attracted upper class families,
and today that segment is still there, along with the middle class.
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