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Central
Cairo:
 The
area across from Gezira Island above Shari Ramses is generally
known as Bulaq, and during the Ottoman period was a busy port
and warehousing district, but today is a residential district,
though the Wakalet El-Balah is here with its various dealers in
military surplus and scrap iron. Below that is Downtown Cairo
which is of more interest. South of Downtown is Garden City, across
from Rhoda Island, and to the east of that, Mounira. We have also
included both Roda and Gezira Islands in this section.
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Modern Cairo
 Modern
Caireans consider Central Cairo to consist of the area bordered
by Old Cairo to the south, Islamic Cairo to the east and the Nile
River to the west, but this covers a number of different districts.
 Two
distinct cities, the new and the old, make up Cairo. Modern Cairo
faces the Nile. Its wide avenues are lined with blocks of modern
apartment houses, skyscraper office buildings, government buildings,
theaters, and smart shops. It extends eastward from the Nile to
the Place Ezbekieh, which adjoins the 20-acre Ezbekieh Gardens.
On the place stands the opera house, built for the celebrations
that attended the completion of the Suez Canal. Here also stood
the first Shepherd's, a world-famous Swiss hotel that catered
to foreigners. Egyptian mobs burned Shepherd's and destroyed many
other buildings when they rioted against the Europeans in 1952.
Old
Cairo
 Old
Cairo actually predates Cairo itself to old Babylon and the Romans.
Located here are some of the oldest Christian Churches in the
World, as well as one of the oldest Mosques.
Although old Cairo has many fine examples of Arab architecture,
most of it is a slum of crumbling mud-brick tenements. Many streets
are narrow and unpaved.
 From
the Place Ezbekieh, Muski Street runs eastward into the oldest
section. On Muski is Cairo's most famous bazaar, where one can
buy almost anything. Narrow alleys are lined with tiny shops that
are open to the street. In the shops craftsmen sit cross-legged,
tooling leather, weaving rugs, or working metal. Passersby are
besieged by peddlers selling sweets and souvenirs and by beggars--the
crippled, the blind, and the very poor.
Cairo's
West Bank
 Early
maps show little but the Giza Pyramids on the west bank of the
Nile at Cairo. The Mohandessin, Agouza and Dokki areas were developed
as middle class residential areas mostly during the 1960's and
70's to support these new Egyptian professionals. Most of the
appeals in the area, other than Giza, are good restaurants, shopping
and a few cultural centers and museums. The museums include the
Agricultural Museum (off Sharia Wizarat al-Ziraa in Dokki) and
the Mahmoud Khalil Museum (on Sharia al-Giza between Dokki and
Giza), which has a fine collection of art. The Cairo Circus is
here, but only open in the summer. There are also a few houseboats
left which in the 1930 formed a floating neighborhood, and drew
some tourist crowds. Most anywhere one wishes to go in these areas
are best reached by cabs.
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