Downtown Cairo ( arz, وسط البلد '', "middle of town")'', has been the urban center of

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metr ...

, Egypt, since the late 19th century, when the district was designed and built.

History

Downtown Cairo was designed by prestigious French architects who were commissioned by Khedive Ismail during his visit to

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, and since then he wanted to make the Egyptian Kingdom capital better than Paris and to be the jewel of the orient. It was he who stressed the importance of European style urban planning in Cairo, to include broad, linear gridded streets, geometric harmony and modern European architectural style. It was once home to the prosperous elite of late 19th and early 20th century Cairo. It is a relic of a bygone era — Egypt's ''belle epoque'' — and demonstrates the vision for developing Egypt. Yet decades of neglect by the neighbourhood's landlords and tenants following the burning of most of Cairo's buildings during the popular Cairo fire incident prior the 1952 Revolution led by

Gamal Abdel Nasser Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein, . (15 January 1918 – 28 September 1970) was an Egyptian politician who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 and introduced far-r ...

, and the ensuing departure of the upper classes, have left the splendor of its ornate edifices mired in decay. Lax enforcement of laws and regulations gave way to the entry of commercial establishments into the neighborhood, mostly with no regard to maintaining aesthetic harmony or preserving the historic buildings of Downtown Cairo. Now, most of the historic buildings within the area were renovated by the ministry Of housing, utilities and urban development.

Downtown landmarks

Groppi

Groppi is one of the first and most famous ice cream shop in Cairo, located in Talaat Harb Square. It was founded in 1909 by the Swiss Groppi family, survived the nationalization movement in the 1950s and 1960s, and was owned by the Groppi family until 1981 when it was bought by Abdul-Aziz Lokma.Salama, Vivian (August 20, 2012)
The enduring charm of Café Groppi.
Newsweek.com.

Café Riche

One of the most renowned downtown landmarks, on the 29th of Talaat Harb Street, is the

Café Riche Café Riche ( ar, مقهى ريش) which opened in 1908 at 17th of Talaat Harb Street, is one of the most renowned landmarks in downtown Cairo. At various times a meeting place for intellectuals and revolutionaries, the café witnessed many histo ...

which opened in 1908. At various times a meeting place for intellectuals and revolutionaries, the cafe witnessed many historically significant events over the 20th century. It is said to be where

King Farouk Farouk I (; ar, فاروق الأول ''Fārūq al-Awwal''; 11 February 1920 – 18 March 1965) was the tenth ruler of Egypt from the Muhammad Ali dynasty and the penultimate King of Egypt and the Sudan, succeeding his father, Fuad I, in 1 ...

saw his second wife,

Nariman Sadek Narriman Sadek (Arabic: ناريمان صادق or Nariman Sadiq) (31 October 1933 – 16 February 2005) was the daughter of Hussain Fahmi Sadiq Bey, a high-ranking official in the Egyptian government, and his wife Asila Kamil. She was the s ...

; where the perpetrator of the 1919 failed assassination attempt on Egypt's last Christian Prime Minister, Youssef Wahba Pasha lay in wait for his target; and where several members of the resistance during the 1919 revolution met in the basement to organize their activities and print their flyers. Patrons included

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning the North Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via a land bridg ...

ian

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

winner and

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

novelist

Naguib Mahfouz Naguib Mahfouz Abdelaziz Ibrahim Ahmed Al-Basha ( arz, نجيب محفوظ عبد العزيز ابراهيم احمد الباشا, ; 11 December 1911 – 30 August 2006) was an Egyptian writer who won the 1988 Nobel Prize in Literature. M ...

and the then-future president

Restoration

Heritage groups have long called for a national campaign to preserve and restore the area's architectural legacy and beauty. Only since the 1992 earthquake, which caused notable damage across the city and country, did national campaigns to preserve heritage form, such as the

Historic Cairo Restoration Project The Historic Cairo Restoration Project (HCRP) is an effort by the governments of Egypt and Cairo to restore and renovate historic Medieval Islamic Cairo. ''Al-Qahira'' (Cairo) was officially founded here in 969 CE by the Fatimid caliphs as an imp ...

References