![TahrirQasrAlAyn](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/TahrirQasrAlAyn.JPG)
Qasr El Eyni Street ( arz, شارع القصر العيني alternatively transliterated as Kasr El Ainy) is one of the oldest streets in
downtown Cairo
Downtown Cairo ( arz, وسط البلد '' "middle of town")'', has been the urban center of Cairo, Egypt, since the late 19th century, when the district was designed and built.
History
Downtown Cairo was designed by prestigious French archit ...
, Egypt.
Namesake
Qasr El Eyni (Arabic for ''Palace of El Einy'') owes its name to the nearby landmark of the same name,
El Einy Pasha's palace, which now hosts one of the oldest medical schools in the Middle East and Africa. The street is also known as Tahrir Qasr El Einy Street because of its outlet into
Tahrir Square
Tahrir Square ( ar, ميدان التحرير ', , English language, English: Liberation Square), also known as "Martyr Square", is a major public town square in downtown Cairo, Egypt. The square has been the location and focus for political dem ...
.
Location and history
Qasr El Einy Street is located in
downtown Cairo
Downtown Cairo ( arz, وسط البلد '' "middle of town")'', has been the urban center of Cairo, Egypt, since the late 19th century, when the district was designed and built.
History
Downtown Cairo was designed by prestigious French archit ...
, running parallel to the
Cairo Metro Line 1, spanning El Sayeda Zeinab, Saad Zaghloul and El Sadat stations along its length. The street runs NNE from the National Cancer Institute to Tahrir Square, a distance of 2.4 kilometres (1.5 miles). Tahrir Square was built in the late 1860s, around the
Khairy Pasha Palace, which later hosted the
American University in Cairo
The American University in Cairo (AUC; ar, الجامعة الأمريكية بالقاهرة, Al-Jāmi‘a al-’Amrīkiyya bi-l-Qāhira) is a private research university in Cairo, Egypt. The university offers American-style learning programs ...
's campus, built in the 1920s.
;Tahrir Square
The Metro's Sadat Station serves Tahrir Square, providing links to
Giza
Giza (; sometimes spelled ''Gizah'' arz, الجيزة ' ) is the second-largest city in Egypt after Cairo and fourth-largest city in Africa after Kinshasa, Lagos and Cairo. It is the capital of Giza Governorate with a total population of 9.2 ...
,
Helwan
Helwan ( ar, حلوان ', , cop, ϩⲁⲗⲟⲩⲁⲛ, Halouan) is a city in Egypt and part of Greater Cairo, on the bank of the Nile, opposite the ruins of Memphis. Originally a southern suburb of Cairo, it served as the capital of the now de ...
,
Maadi
Maadi ( ar, المعادي / transliterated: ) is a leafy suburban district south of Cairo, Egypt, on the east bank of the Nile about upriver from downtown Cairo. The Nile at Maadi is parallelled by the Corniche, a waterfront promenade a ...
, and other districts and suburbs of
Greater Cairo
The Greater Cairo Region (GCR; ar, القاهرة الكبرى, Al-Qāhira al-Kubrā) is th an economic region with no administrative body comprising the three governorates of Cairo, Giza and Qalyubia. Within it lies the largest metopolitan are ...
. The area around Tahrir Square includes the
Egyptian Museum
The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, known commonly as the Egyptian Museum or the Cairo Museum, in Cairo, Egypt, is home to an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities. It has 120,000 items, with a representative amount on display a ...
, the
Headquarters of the Arab League
The Headquarters of the Arab League is located in Tahrir Square and near the downtown business district of Cairo, Egypt. The headquarters building has views of the Nile River and Qasr al-Nil Bridge just to the west.
Arab League
The headqua ...
building,
the Mogamma
The Mogamma (Arabic: مجمع التحرير, also spelled ''Mugamma'', roughly translated as 'the complex') is a government building in Cairo, Egypt. The Mogamma was the result of a series of master plans for the Qasr el Nil area (now Tahrir Squ ...
government building, the original downtown campus of the
American University in Cairo
The American University in Cairo (AUC; ar, الجامعة الأمريكية بالقاهرة, Al-Jāmi‘a al-’Amrīkiyya bi-l-Qāhira) is a private research university in Cairo, Egypt. The university offers American-style learning programs ...
, the Nile Hotel, and used to host the
National Democratic Party headquarters building until it was demolished in the aftermath of the Egyptian revolution of 2011.
Tahrir Square has been the site for numerous major protests and demonstrations, including in March 2003 when people came out to protest the
War in Iraq
This is a list of wars involving the Republic of Iraq and its predecessor states.
Other armed conflicts involving Iraq
* Wars during Mandatory Iraq
** Ikhwan raid on South Iraq 1921
* Smaller conflicts, revolutions, coups and periphery confli ...
, and the
2011 Egyptian protest gatherings. Tahrir Square was originally called "Ismailia Square", named after 19th-century ruler
Khedive Ismail
Isma'il Pasha ( ar, إسماعيل باشا ; 12 January 1830 – 2 March 1895), was the Khedive of Khedivate of Egypt, Egypt and conqueror of Sudan (region), Sudan from 1863 to 1879, when Tewfik Pasha, he was removed at the behest of Great Bri ...
, but the name was changed to Tahrir Square after the
Egyptian Revolution of 1952.
;Parliament Building
The parliament building that houses Egypt's legislative body, the
House of Representatives
House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...
, is located on the Qasr El Einy Street. In 2008, the building was severely damaged by a fire.
;The Egyptian Geographic Society
The Egyptian Geographic Society ( arz, الجمعية الجغرافية المصرية, french: Société de Géographie d'Egypte) was established by a decree of Khedive Isma'il Pasha on 19 May 1875. Its first president was the German botanist, traveller and ethnologist
Georg August Schweinfurth
Georg August Schweinfurth (29 December 1836 – 19 September 1925) was a Baltic German botanist and ethnologist who explored East Central Africa.
Life and explorations
He was born at Riga, Latvia, then part of the Russian Empire. He was edu ...
. Founded as the Khedivial Society of Geography, its name was modified several times in order to reflect Egypt's changing political status. It acquired its current name following the Egyptian Revolution of 1952.
;Egyptian Ethnological Museum
This museum houses exhibits covering the activities and traditions in Cairo including village crafts, costumes, equipment and other items of daily life. The museum is located at the Geographical Society Building on Qasr El-Einy Street.
;Cairo University Hospital—Qasr El Einy Hospital
The Qasr El Einy Medical School ( arz, قصر العيني) is part of the
Cairo University School of Medicine
Qasr El Eyni Hospital ( ar, مستشفى قصر العيني) is a research and teaching hospital in Cairo, Egypt. This hospital is affiliated with the Qasr El Eyni Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University and was founded on March 11, 1827.
History
I ...
, and is located in
Garden City district in downtown Cairo. Qasr El Eyni Medical School is one of the largest, oldest, and most prestigious medical schools in Africa and the Middle East. Along with the Cairo University Hospitals, it is considered the largest medical institution in the Middle East, and probably one of the largest in the world. Established in 1827, it was named after El Einy Pasha, whose palace was originally the school's main building. It accepts about 1600 students annually out of the thousands of applicants who apply. The students are chosen by a computer program based on the score they have achieved in high school. It provides a six-year combined premedical-medical programme leading to a MBBCh which is usually followed by a one-year internship at the university hospital.
Qasr El Einy is considered a symbol of the medical profession in Egypt. Hence, the founding date of Qasr El Einy, March 11, 1827, was chosen as the day of the annual festival for the Egyptian medical profession.
Today
Located in the center of downtown Cairo, Qasr El Einy Street has a range of buildings including apartment complexes, banks, churches, gas stations, government buildings, hospitals, internet cafes, mosques, pharmacies, and numerous shops and restaurants. Qasr El Einy Street is a one-way street that heads directly towards Tahrir Square with no intersections, 18-20 side streets, and occasional bus stops.
Major institutions and buildings
Qasr El-Einy Street has many notable institutions, buildings, and landmarks. Listed southeastward from its Tahrir Square terminus they include:
# AUC—American University in Cairo Bookstore (and original AUC Campus, now
AUC downtown campus)
#
The Mogamma
The Mogamma (Arabic: مجمع التحرير, also spelled ''Mugamma'', roughly translated as 'the complex') is a government building in Cairo, Egypt. The Mogamma was the result of a series of master plans for the Qasr el Nil area (now Tahrir Squ ...
# The Principal Bank for Development and Agriculture
# The Society for Egyptian Geography
# The Egyptian Ethnological Museum
# Ministry of Transport (General Authority of Roads, Bridges, and Land Transport)
# House of Representatives
# Ministry of Social Solidarity
#
Cairo University Hospital—Qasr El Einy Hospital
# Cairo University College of Pharmacy
# Moustapha Fahmy Bay's "Faisal Nada Theater" (1931)
# Cairo Medical Syndicate
# National Herpetology and Tropical Medicine and Research Institute
Adjacent and nearby sites
;Mugamma
Mugamma (alternatively
the Mogamma
The Mogamma (Arabic: مجمع التحرير, also spelled ''Mugamma'', roughly translated as 'the complex') is a government building in Cairo, Egypt. The Mogamma was the result of a series of master plans for the Qasr el Nil area (now Tahrir Squ ...
), literary meaning ‘combined,’ is Egypt's government office complex located adjacent to Qasr El Eyni Street on the south side of Tahrir Square, where much of the government paperwork is done. It's a Soviet-era gray concrete, massive twenty-story building. The interior has narrow hallways, unlabeled doors to the many government agencies located in this one building. The agencies in the building include: the Fire Fighting Organization; the Tax Evasion Investigations Offices; the Passport Offices; and the High Committee for Sports and Youth. This is where people go to get a marriage license, a driver's license, and most any other necessary license. If one needs to transact with the Egyptian government on public business of most kinds, the Mogamma is where it is transpires.
;The Egyptian Museum
The
Egyptian Museum
The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, known commonly as the Egyptian Museum or the Cairo Museum, in Cairo, Egypt, is home to an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities. It has 120,000 items, with a representative amount on display a ...
— officially the Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, and commonly referred to as the "Cairo Museum" — on the northern side of Tahrir Square is one of the world's archaeology and ancient art museums. The building holds a collection of Egyptian antiquities, with at least 136,000 items on display. Hundreds of thousands of additional items are in the museum's basement storerooms and elsewhere, and are added to each year with ongoing archaeological excavation discoveries.
Gallery
Image:developmentandagriculturebank.JPG, The Principal Bank of Development and Agriculture on Qasr El Einy Street
Image:Gamhariya.JPG, Side view of the Gomhoriya on Qasr El Einy Street
Image:muhammadbeyarchitecture.JPG, Muhammad Bey Architecture on Qasr El Einy Street
Image:Cairouniversityhospital.JPG, Cairo University Hospital
Image:Faisalnadatheater.JPG, Moustapha Fahmy Bey's Theater (1931)
See also
*
Al-Azhar University
, image = جامعة_الأزهر_بالقاهرة.jpg
, image_size = 250
, caption = Al-Azhar University portal
, motto =
, established =
*970/972 first foundat ...
*
Khan el-Khalili
Khan el-Khalili ( ar, خان الخليلي) is a famous bazaar and souq (or ''souk'') in the historic center of Cairo, Egypt. Established as a center of trade in the Mamluk era and named for one of its several historic caravanserais, the b ...
*
Muizz Street
Al-Muizz li-Din Allah al-Fatimi Street ( ar, شارع المعز لدين الله الفاطمي), or al-Muizz street for short, is a major north-to-south street in the walled city of historic Cairo, Egypt. It is one of Cairo's oldest streets as ...
*
Saliba Street
References
External links
Urban Map for interactive informationcairolife.wordpress.com
{{coord missing, Egypt
Downtown Cairo
Streets in Cairo
Tourist attractions in Cairo
Qasr El Eyni Hospital