The heart of Fatimid Cairo is to be an exclusively pedestrian zone, reports Nevine El-Aref Visitors to Al-Muizz Street in Fatimid Cairo will encounter an unfamiliar scene in the next few days. They will be able to stroll along the street without having to worry about traffic. Nor will they have to negotiate the huge pumps that for years blocked the routes of pedestrians as they pumped out subterranean water. These, like the drainage pipes over which visitors once tripped, are no more. A majority of the monuments that line the street have now been restored and the handful that have not are nearing completion. Workers are now busy repaving the street. Others, on wooden scaffolding, are cleaning the façade of houses and shops. On an empty platform in front of the Qalawun Mosque two gardeners with spades are busy planting a pair of date palms to recall the original spirit of the street. Before the Mohamed Ali sabil (public fountain), which has been transformed into a Textile Museum, a dozen engineers and technicians stand checking lamps that will illuminate the dramatic façades along the entire street. The lighting has been designed so that colours can be used to mark special events. A total of 34 monuments along Al-Muizz Street and 67 located in neighbouring alleyways have now been restored. The treatment of road surfaces and street furniture enhances the experience of visitors to Al-Muizz Street which, between Bab Al-Fotouh and Bab Zuweila, was the main thoroughfare of the Fatimid city. The road has been reduced to its original level, and the paving is being kept simple. Nearby houses have been spruced up and painted in colours that are sympathetic with the street's more monumental buildings and a high-tech drainage system for rain water has been installed. And now, between 6am and 12 midnight Al-Muizz Street will be a pedestrian zone, allowing people to enjoy the magnificent Islamic monuments within their original environment and experience the traditions and customs of the area's inhabitants over several centuries. Though access to emergency vehicles will be allowed at all times, shop keepers will only be able to take deliveries in the small hours of the night. Over the centuries the kilometre-long street became Cairo's spine, the iconic heart of the city, adorned with monumental buildings embellished with fine mashrabiya, mosaics and decorative domes. Among the most notable buildings are the Sultan Qalawun complex, which consists of a palace, madrasa (school) and hospital, the school of Ibn Barquq and Beit Al-Qadi, the dome of Sultan Al-Saleh Negmeddin, the sabil- kuttab of Khesru Pasha, and the Mohamed Ali Pasha sabil. Time, though, exacted a heavy toll on these historic buildings. Encroachment and misuse by residents harmed the monuments, environmental pollution undermined foundations and the 1992 earthquake left visible scars across the historic zone. In 2000, when the government launched the Historic Cairo Rehabilitation Project (HCRP), a huge restoration campaign that aimed to preserve historic Cairo as an open air museum, Al-Muizz Street took the lion's share of the LE850 million budget. "By the end of the month Al-Muizz will have regained its mediaeval allure," Culture Minister Farouk Hosni told Al-Ahram Weekly. Transforming Al-Muizz Street into a pedestrian zone, he said, was a dream come true, turning the street into the most important attraction in Cairo, the embodiment of Egypt's tangible and intangible Islamic heritage. The Ministry of Culture was determined to retain as many artisans and workmen in the area as possible. The more damaging workshops have had to be removed and a final decision on those remaining will only be taken after their owners have displayed that they are capable of changing work habits that in the past have included dumping industrial waste along the walls of the monuments. "Skilled workers and stores displaying their handicrafts are an essential component of the character of Al-Muizz Street. They contribute to the vivid atmosphere of the neighbourhood and we are keen on settling craftsmen in their original locations but only in a manner that complements the splendour of the area," says Hosni. "Workers whose small enterprises adversely affect the monuments will be transferred elsewhere unless they change their activities. In this respect the government will provide training courses and materials for new businesses. We want to return the area of the silk market, the tent market and other enterprises that are part of the Islamic heritage." The sabil of Mohamed Ali in Nahhassin, which had been all but occupied by a primary school, has been emptied of pupils, desks and blackboards and restored. It now houses Egypt's first dedicated textile museum. Other sabils in the area have been turned into centres for folk arts and, in one case, a library.
