Three renovated archaeological buildings being inaugurated

CAIRO – 8 July 2017: Khaled El-Enany, Minister of Antiquities, will inaugurate three completely renovated archaeological buildings located on El Muizz street on July 9.

‘’These three buildings are the first to be totally renovated out of 7 archaeological buildings currently being restored, this comes in the context of the national campaign that the Ministry of Antiquities has launched in 2015 to save 100 archaeological buildings in Cairo,’’ said director of the Historical Cairo Project, Mohamed Abdel Aziz.

The Ministry of Antiquities has allocated LE 9 million ($502,648) for the restoration of the seven buildings, as reported by Youm7.

Located on one of the oldest streets in Cairo, the three buildings to be being inaugurated are: Moheb el-din Abou el Tayeb hall, Sabil (avenue) and Kuttab (a place to teach and memorize the Quran) Khusro Pasha and Qubbat (Dome) al-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub,
The opening ceremony will witness the attendance of a group of ministers and foreign countries ambassadors in Cairo, directors of foreign archaeological institutes in Egypt and a number of public figures.

Moheb el-din Abou el Tayeb hall
This hall is located in El Nahhasin area, which is characterized by its integrated architectural designs. It considered one of the nicest and most complete halls of Mamluk. This particular hall is known for its fountain and water pump architectural elements.

Abdel Aziz pointed out that due to the high proportion of rain, salt and humidity, the hall was suffering from some significant cracks in the structure, prompting the Ministry of Antiquities to start a project to renovate the hall to ensure its protection and maintenance.

Sabil and Kuttab Khusro Pasha
Sabil Khusro Pasha which is located on El Muizz Street is considered one of the oldest remaining Ottoman Sabils in Cairo. Abdel Aziz assured that despite it being built in the Ottoman era, its design has a touch of the local Egyptian style that was prevailing in the Mamluk era.

The architectural layout of the Sabil is unique with two facades facing onto the street, one north-west and the other north-east, each crowned from the top with an engraving including its origin and date of construction.


Qubbat al-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub

Qubbat al-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub is located in the El Nahhasin area. It is characterized by its beautiful unique decorations and considered one of the most beautiful domes in Egypt. Abdel Aziz recounted that Shajar al-Durr, which was the second Muslim woman to become a monarch in the history of Islam, created the dome to transfer the remains of her husband, Mamluk King Al-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub.

Qubbat al-Salih Najm al-Din Ayyub consists of a square area with one main façade occupied by three entrances. The lower level of each of the three entrances has a rectangular window.