Restoration carried out at the Sitt Wassila House in mediaeval Cairo has revealed the sumptuousness of Ottoman architecture. Nevine El-Aref admires a newly uncovered fresco The Sitt Wassila House -- Beit Al-Sitt Wassila, which adjoins the Beit Al-Harrawi in the Al-Azhar heart of Islamic Cairo -- sports an elegant façade embellished with mashrabiya (Islamic woodwork) and a huge, decorated wooden door. This 17th- century edifice, named in 1836 after its owner, was built by Sheikh Abdel-Haq and his brother Lotfi in 1664 (1074 H). Once they have stepped under the lintel of the doorway visitors familiar with the building in its former state will be astonished. The Sitt Wassila House, which had suffered massive deterioration and neglect for decades, has been reborn, or at least given a new lease of life and some of its original allure, by the major restoration project. The house's original ground floor, now reached by a flight of six steps under ground level, consists of a maqaad (a large reception room where the men of the house and their male guests gather), while the first floor houses private apartments reserved for the harim (women of the house). These are surrounded by beautiful wooden casing decorated with fine, gilded foliage reliefs and are surmounted with a superb polychrome ceiling. In the old days the Sitt Wassila House was one of the most impressive Ottoman domiciles in Cairo. It was a splendid example of a magnificent bourgeois residence largely illuminated and aired by means of enormous mashrabiya windows. Now, after losing most of its features, the house has only two storeys, with one large mashrabiya façade (instead of four) and a single door. The tahouna (mill) and the stable are gone, along with a large water fountain that once adorned its open court. The bathroom fittings -- which, according to the house's original plan, were supplied with an old-fashioned version of a Jacuzzi -- are also missing. Despite several attempts since 1895 to rescue and conserve this remarkable house, its architectural elements went from bad to worse until 2002 when it was added to the list of buildings on the Historic Cairo Restoration Project. "Restoring the Sitt Wassila House reminds me of the Nubian temples salvage operation in the 1960s," restoration project director Ayman Abdel- Moneim told Al-Ahram Weekly. When the restoration work started the whole building was fundamentally damaged. Walls were suffering a high rate of humidity and salt absorption, several blocks of the façade had deteriorated or were missing, and the original entrance to the house was buried beneath the street level that completely surmounted it. The second floor façade had collapsed and its walls were scarred by deep cracks. Most of the woodwork on the windows, doors, ceilings and floors was missing. While cleaning the walls of the maqaad al-sayfi (summer reception room) on the first floor, restorers came across a fresco three metres wide by two-and-a-half high showing the entrance to a fortified city located beside a look-out tower, which in turn leads to a green space with vaulted buildings. "The restoration meant not only conservation but also excavation, as well uncovering these mural paintings of Islamic history," Abdel-Moneim says. Twenty other wall paintings showing green parks, Islamic buildings with soaring towers and vases of red flowers were found on other walls during the removal of modern paint added by people who lived in the house after Al-Sitt Wassila's time. The most outstanding and attractive of these is a scene of pilgrimage that shows the Kaaba of Mecca and its black cover decorated with gold. Another features an exquisite 19th-century clock ornamented with coloured flowers. Most of these murals are very well preserved, and still bear most of their features and their vivid colours. Engravings showing three large vessels with their sailors have been also found while cleaning the walls of the first floor. Abdallah El-Attar, Islamic monument consultant in the SCA, said that the scene was engraved by sailors who passed by the house during their trips. Sayed Ismail, director of the north Cairo archaeological zone, sees these newly discovered frescoes as very important for Islamic history, since this is the first time that such a large number of murals has been found in an Islamic building of this period. Fourteen of the frescoes had previously been found by the French Mission director Bernard Maury when he restored the house in 1980. Maury transferred them to the restoration department at the Citadel, and once they had been restored they were placed back in their original positions in the house. Now that the Historic Cairo Restoration Scheme has rescued the Sitt Wassila House from oblivion and decay, it awaits a gala opening with emphasis on its value as an example of excellent conservation. Culture Minister Farouk Hosni said that after the completion of restoration the house would be converted into a cultural centre or an art gallery similar to its neighbours, the Beit Al-Harrawi and Zeinab Khatoun, where cultural events now take place.
