Al-Muizz Street with its Islamic architectural treasures that show Egypt's wealth and power during the mediaeval era is to be a pedestrian zone. Nevine El-Aref inspects the latest development After Al-Qahira, the "triumphant city", was built by military commander Gawhar Al-Seqeli in AD 969 by order of the Fatimid Khalif El-Muizz Ledin Allah as Egypt's new capital, its walls enclosed opulent palaces and the prestigious mosque-university of Al-Azhar. Of the several streets and alleys in the new city, Al-Muizz Street stretching between Bab Al-Fotouh (gate of conquest) and Bab Zuweila was the main thoroughfare of Fatimid Cairo. Through the different ages, Al-Muizz Street maintained its glorious position and encouraged Mamelukes, Circassians, Ayyubids and Ottomans to enhance its character by building splendid mosques, sabils (water fountains), Kuttabs (Quranic schools), houses and wekalas (trade complex). The one-kilometre-long street then became a spine lined with over 30 soared monuments displaying distinguished styles of Islamic architecture embellished with fine mashrabiya (woodwork) façades, painted mosaic and decorative domes. Among these are the Sultan Qalawun complex, which consists of a palace, a madrassa (school) and a hospital, the school of Ibn Barquq Beit Al-Qadi, the Sultan Al-Saleh Negmeddin dome, the sabil-kuttab of Khesru Pasha, and the Mohamed Ali Pasha sabil. Time, however, has taken a heavy toll on these historic edifices. Encroachment and misuse by the residents have caused irreparable harm, environmental pollution has undermined foundations and the 1992 earthquake left visible marks on the threatened historical zone. In 2000, when the government launched its huge restoration campaign, the Historic Cairo Rehabilitation Project (HCRP) which aimed at protecting, conserving and preserving historic Cairo with view to develop it into an open air museum, Al-Muizz Street took its share of the LE850-million project. The 34 monuments along Al-Muizz Street and the almost 67 Islamic edifices found along its neighbouring allies have been restored to their original features. Appropriate treatment of road surfaces and street furniture enhances the full length of Al-Muizz Street, from gate to gate. Its height has been reduced to its original level, paving is kept simple and direct to express the urbane quality of the street and the irregular pattern it had during its heyday. Residential houses have been polished and painted with an appropriate colour suitable to the street's monumental characters, while high-tech drainage system for rain water has been also installed. At the end of this year, after repaving, and following the excavation of the Al-Azhar tunnel and the completion of the street's rehabilitation, Al-Muizz will be declared a pedestrian zone. According to the development project, every day between 7am and 11pm, Al-Muizz Street will be a pedestrian zone where people will be able not only to enjoy seeing and admiring the magnificent Islamic monuments within its original environment, but also to experience the living traditions and customs of those who lived during the various ages of the Islamic era. Outside these hours trading will be allowed, where merchants can easily transport their goods in and out of the street. Access to emergency vehicles are allowed at all times. To check upon development in progress, Culture Minister Farouk Hosni embarked last Sunday on an inspection tour to Al-Muizz Street. On site, numerous activities are taking place; workers are busy repaving a section of the street confronting the Mohamed Ali sabil, others on wooden scaffolding are cleaning the façade of houses adjacent to the Beit Al-Qadi, while a dozen workmen on their knees in front of the Darb Al-Asfar alleyway are sanding the road to prepare it for repaving. In front of the Qalawun Mosque, Hosni found a use for an empty platform. He suggested growing two date palms to recall the original spirit of the street. "At the end of this year, Al-Muizz will regain its mediaeval lure and allure," Hosni told the Al-Ahram Weekly, adding that transforming Al-Muizz Street into a pedestrian zone was a dream to come true. He said the street would be the most important touristic zone in Cairo, rather like the old city in Geneva, and would combine Egypt's Islamic tangible and intangible heritage. Although the Ministry of Culture is determined to maintain as many as possible of the artisans and workmen in the area, some shop and bazaar owners who are concerned about their commerce future crowded round the minister during his visit. According to the street's rehabilitation project, workshops and factories which affect the monuments in the area and dump their industrial waste along the building walls will be removed unless they change their activities. "Skilled workers and their handicraft stores are essential to the distinct character of Al-Muizz Street, since they provide the vivid atmosphere of the area and the government is keen on settling craftsmen in their original locations, but in a manner that complements the splendour of the area," Hosni said. "Workers whose small enterprises adversely affect the monuments will be transferred elsewhere unless they change their activities. In this case, the government will help the labourers involved and provide them with training courses and materials for new business. We want to give back the area of the silk market, the tent market and other enterprises that are part of the Islamic heritage." Owing to Hosni's belief that these Islamic monuments are living entities inhabited by people who must remain a part of the total environment, the sabil of Mohamed Ali in Nahasseen, which was encroached on by a primary school, has been vacated of its pupils, desks and blackboard, and has been restored and redesigned to be Egypt's first textile museum. The sabil was originally built by the order of Mohamed Ali Pasha to commemorate his son Ismail who died in Sudan in 1822. It consists of a large rectangular hall opening onto Al-Tassbil hall with a rounded, marble façade and four windows surrounding an oval marble lavabo. The "logo" of the Ottoman Empire featuring a crescent and a star decorates the area above each window. The sabil 's wooden façade and the top of the frame are decorated in a rococo and baroque style, the main style in several of Mohamed Ali's edifices. "Converting such a sabil into a textile museum totally came by chance," said Ayman Abdel Moneim head of the HCRP. He explained that the restoration of the sabil left the question of how to use it in the future? Closing the sabil would led to its rapid deterioration. Opening it to tourism, like other monuments in the street, is not the best solution as it will not attract tourists because it does not have distinguishing decorative features compared with neighbouring monuments. Converting it into an administrative office, Abdel-Moneim said, would definitely cause it to deteriorate again. The question remained without an answer until the Dar Al-Kuttub Administration asked the Ministry of Culture to vacate the textile hall on top of the Islamic Museum, which was originally in the possession of Dar Al-Kuttub. "Such action had inspired us to create Egypt's first textile museum in the Mohamed Ali sabil in Nahasseen," Abdel-Moneim said. He continued that the museum displayed 250 different pieces of textile and 15 carpets from the late Pharaonic era, the Coptic and Islamic ages. Among the collection on display are tools and instruments used by ancient Egyptians to wash and clean clothes, along with illustrations showing the different stages of cloth laundering in ancient time. Monk costumes, icons and clothes of different parts of the Islamic era were also exhibited. Among the most beautiful items on show are a red bed cover ornamented with gold and silver threads. It was said to have been a gift from Mohamed Ali to his daughter on her marriage. The second one is a large cover for the Kaaba in Mecca sent by King Fouad of Egypt to Saudi Arabia. This is a black velvet textile ornamented with Quranic verses and woven with gold and silver thread. The museum which has so far cost LE5.2 million will be opened at the end of this year.
