Tuesday March 19th, 2024
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Blue Cairo’s 537-Monument Map is the End All and Be All of Islamic Cairo

Blue Cairo’s comprehensive map breaks down every nook and cranny of Islamic Cairo through Google, encompassing 537 monuments with historical notes, art and poetry.

Staff Writer

Blue Cairo’s 537-Monument Map is the End All and Be All of Islamic Cairo

Let's set the scene. You've just wandered through the gates of Bab Zuweila into Islamic Cairo and have found yourself meandering through its narrow streets, surrounded by grand, austere architecture that looks exactly as old as it is. Mosques, mausoleums and markets smother you with their abundance - a history lover like yourself could easily be overwhelmed by the possibility of missing out on a medieval monument behind the crowds of likeminded tourists. Blue Cairo just launched a free map to help you out, with 537 of Islamic Cairo's monuments laid out for your phone and laptop screens through Google.

“Our goal with this unprecedented map is to help both local and foreign tourists navigate, discover, and capture the beauty of Cairo’s hidden, forgotten gems,” founders Omar Sheira and Bíborka Anna Kis said. The map is a translation of Ahmed el Sahar’s Arabic map with the same locations.

“We started two years ago," Omar Sheira told CairoScene. "We used to take walks around the old city, and it became apparent that every monument has its own story. There are so many stories that aren’t Mohamed Ali or Shagret el Dor, that people don’t know about. That is why we use photography and poetry— so we can tell that story.”

The monuments that you can find through the map includes countless mosques, Bab Zuweila, Sultan Qaitbay Madrasa, and Amir Yashbak Palace. Through their Instagram page, they also post images with historical insights and background information, so you can always take a deeper look into everything you see during your walk through this dignified, medieval district.

To visit the map, go through this link.