Walking through the district of Sayeda Zeinab is not just a tour of religious relics but also a journey through the history of Egypt, Amira El-Noshokaty reports The whole of Sayeda Zeinab is built up on hallmarks and blessings. Spreading out from the district's heart -- the Mosque of Sayeda Zeinab, the granddaughter of Prophet Mohamed -- holy domes mark the horizon. As one treads further and further into the district's avenues and hamlets, an extraordinary tranquillity builds up. Ancient mansions, mosques and sabils (fresh water outlets) are stitched to legends and sketches of people that once seemed larger than life. Despite their mortality, they remain the eternal heroes of the district's social history. All in all, the area provides a panorama of architectural magnificence with value placed on the notion of space, of relics from eras that time has washed away. We start our walk at Sayeda Zeinab Mosque, the district's centre and the place it was named after. According to Soad Maher Mohamed of the High Council of Islamic Affairs, Mosques and Saints of Egypt, the mosque constitutes the centre of the square of what was once called Qantaret Al-Sebaa, or the Lion's Barrages. The name is derived from the lion prints that were Al-Zaher Beibaras's motif, marking his barrages topping the little Nile branch, dispensed for expansion purposes of the square. However, in 1898, during renovations and expansions, the front side of the mosque was first discovered. The mosque was first renovated during the Ottoman rule in 1547, then under Prince Katkhoda in 1768, and then in 1940, when the then government built the present mosque at the same location and hence her name and miracles marked the entire district. Sayeda Zeinab, often known as Um Hashem, was the daughter of Ali Ibn Abi Taleb, who fled to Egypt after the political conflicts and shifts of powers from the prophet's house to that of the Ummayids. She was a war prisoner at the battle of Kerbala in Iraq, after her brother Hussein was brutally killed. She and her followers were exiled to Egypt in 61 AH, and lived there for one year until she died. Given her honourable descent and her charitable deeds, Sayeda Zeinab is more than just a national saint. Muslims today continue to flock to pay tribute to their miracle worker and to read the fateha verses from Quran at the green tomb where she is said to be buried. There are those who pay tribute in the form of money or food to the deprived inhabitants of the district as a gesture of gratitude to her immense efforts to help them resolve their problems. Her birthday, like that of many other saints, is still celebrated in a characteristically Egyptian moulid. Facing the mosque, across the street, on the corner of Sayeda's sabil, lies the so-called Mongy hamlet, whose correct pronunciation would be "monge", named after one of the scientists of the French expedition (1798-1801) who was among the residence of Ibrahim Katkhoda El-Sinnari's mansion, cornering the left side of the small route that is dominated by Al-Refaai kebab house. Often known as Beit El-Sennari, it was built in 1794 by Ibrahim Katkhuda El-Sennari, a Sudanese merchant who converted it into a research centre where the Description de L'Egypte was compiled. In 1917, it was transformed into a permanent exhibition displaying Napoleon Bonaparte's personal collection until 1926. Taking the same road back, heading to the main street of Sayeda Zeinab Square, take the right heading to Al-Khodari Street. Right past Al-Manasterli Sabil, are two famous fuul and taamia restaurants, which Cairenes drive across the city to eat at. Al-Gahsh is delicious, while Um Abdu's terrace has a fantastic view. Further, down the road, on the right lie the Mameluke mosque and the school of Prince Sargamish. The Sargamish Madrasa was built in the mid-14th century by Sargamish, a Mameluke soldier who became Al-Sultan Al-Muzaffar Haj's right-hand man. The school, which is mainly rectangular in shape and is characterised by its huge arabesque windows, is located south west of the Ibn Toulun Mosque. The huge door leads to a spacious open air sahn or yard, surrounded by four iwans, (an iwan is a vaulted hall or space, walled on three sides, with one end entirely open), the largest of which is the qibla one. Centring the sahn is a dome-shaped water fountain with eight marble pillars. Here religious studies and modern sciences were once taught. Keep walking in the same direction, till you reach Ahmed Ibn Toulun's Mosque, whose minaret, the only one with external spiral stairs, is unique. It was built over the period of three years from 879 AD on Mount Yashkur by Ahmed Ibn Toulun, the founder of Egypt's Toulunid Dynasty (868-905 AD). Born in Baghdad, he became governor of Egypt after his stepfather died in 870. The mosque is said to be the oldest in Egypt to have survived in its original shape. Occupying an area of approximately 26,318 square metres, the mosque was used for religious affairs as well as for administrative purposes. With decorations that project Abbasid art -- another vivid example of which is Samaraa's now destroyed mosque -- Ibn Toulun's Mosque became the gemstone of the Toulunid capital, from which Egypt was ruled for 26 years. Set right next to the walls of Ibn Toulun is what now is known as the Gayer Anderson Museum. Anderson, a British physician and art collector, bought the house in 1930. During his life in Egypt, he turned the house into a museum and handed it over to the Egyptian government in 1945. The history of the house as well as those joined to it is rather unique. For one, the House of the Cretan Woman, located right next to the Ibn Toulun Mosque, was built during the Ottoman reign in 1631 by two coffee and herb merchants. The house, as is that of Amena Bent Salem next door, was named after the Cretan heiress who lived there. Each house has three large rooms, that are divided into the harem and salamlek -- the exclusively male reception area. The house remains a masterpiece in itself, as do the art collection displayed beneath the gold-plated wooden ceilings, the fountains and the grand mashrabeyas. The courtyard once hosted trade and business gatherings, and also hosted the tomb of Haroun, said to be the descendent of the Prophet Mohamed, and in any case a saint whose body's presence led to the preservation of the house and neighbourhood through the years. The house has been the source of 14 legends that were compiled and published by Anderson in the 1950s. An Arabic- language version of the book that compiled the legends as told by Sheikh Suleiman Al-Cretly was printed and dedicated to the Egyptian people in 2001. Mysticism has colluded over time with pop culture, often clashing with historical and geographical facts, to describe Mount Yashkur -- meaning "thankful" -- as a holy site. Legend has it that not only was it here that Abraham was ordered by God to sacrifice his son Ismail but that it was the port where Noah's Ark came to port following its tempestuous journey. It is also said that it was there that Moses first spoke to God, and had his famous cane turned into a giant snake that ate up the other magicians' snakes -- a miracle that proved him to be a prophet in the eyes of those who did not believe. All of this provided Ibn Toulun with enough reason to build his huge mosque there. According to a local myth, inside the house lies the well of bats. It is the doorway to the king of bats and his beautiful seven young daughters. The well is said to house an ancient golden treasure, which has cost the lives of those who were tempted to find it. Playing on the parody of greed, the well is said to have compensated their families over the years by placing gold coins in the water bucket. We now have the option of either walking straight to the citadel or of going back to the Sayeda Zeinab Square to head to Salaheddin Square. No doubt, the sight of this square will take your breath away. A small rounded garden centres Salaheddin's Citadel, Al-Refaai and Sultan Hassan mosques -- two parallel, equally grand monuments whose magnificence and architectural excellence are unequalled. According to Mosques and Saints of Egypt by Soad Maher, Sultan Hassan Ben Al-Malek Al-Nasser Mohamed Ibn Qalawoon was born in 735 AH and was crowned at the age of 13. The seventh of Qalawoon's sons was not the one in control, however, as he had guardians that led the country in the second year of his reign to corruption, coinciding with the plague. Aged 21, on reclaiming the full authority to rule, he was forced to abdicate his throne to his guardians. He was known among his people to be a kind, modest man and was the first person in the history of the Turkish empire to replace the army's Turkish troops with native Egyptians ones. Sultan Hassan Madrasa was first launched in 757 AH. It took them three years to build this masterpiece that is said to have no match in the Islamic realm. With a length of 150 metres, width of 68 metres, a total area of 7,906 square metres and a height of over 37 metres at the front door, the mosque is divided into four iwans, each for the four Islamic schools of fiqh (jurisprudence). Each iwan varies in its architectural decorations in accordance to the religious school it catered for. Each possesses a three-storey quarter with enough room for the scholars who studied and taught there. Sultan Hassan's Madrasa fell into the dowry-endowment category, which paid the teachers working there monthly wages. Moreover, he allocated a quota for orphans to learn to read and write, to study the Quran and to have their medical needs catered for. According to Cairo by Shihata Eissa, a professor of Islamic Arts, the Refaai Mosque is one of the greatest buildings of the 20th century. Facing the Sultan Hassan school-cum-mosque, it was built by Khoshidar Hanem, mother of Khedive Ismail in 1869. However, it wasn't until 1912 that the first prayer was held here, under the reign of Abbas Helmi II. The mosque, located at a small zawia (place to pray), took its name from yet another one of Sayeda Zeinab's saints: Ahmed Ben Al-Said Ali Ibn Al-Hassan Al-Refaai, with an aim to mirror the grandeur of Sultan Hassan's Mosque. The highly decorative marble pillars met the set standards and the northern side of the mosque has six doors that lead to the tombs of the royal family members, descendants of Mohamed Ali Pasha. Practical information : All mosques except that of Sayeda Zeinab are open from 9am to 4pm daily. Beit El-Sennari : Daily from 8am to 5pm. Gayer Anderson Museum: Daily from 9am to 4pm.
