Egypt’s culture min. launches the Heritage Tours initiative, National Authority for Urban Harmony’s website

CAIRO – 7 January 2020: At the beginning of 2021, the Minister of Culture Inas Abdel Dayem launched the heritage tours initiative, which is the fourth project of the “Memory of the City” series.

This came during a meeting with Head of the National Authority for Urban Harmony Mohammad Abu Saada, where she agreed to launch the heritage tours initiative and launch the “Memory of the City” website.

It was prepared by authority, available at http://www.memoryofthecity.gov.eg, which includes all projects and publications of the “Memory of the City” series.

This was explained by the head of the authority, adding that the first heritage tour would be to Zamalek Island, because of this neighborhood's unique heritage value.

Zamalek district is one of the most beautiful and oldest neighborhoods in Cairo. The first appearance of the island of Zamalek in the Nile River was the time of the Mamluk era during the reign of Sultan al-Kamil Shaaban bin al-Nasser Mohammad bin Qalawun.

The island was called the “Middle Island” because it was between Bulaq district and the Rawda district.

Palaces were built, gardens and places of residence were built and became from that time one of the most beautiful parks in Cairo.

Also, Zamalek district is full of architectural masterpieces that were designed by a number of famous architects at that time.

The “Memory of the City” website also includes the signs of the most important figures that have been implemented in the "Lived Here" project, including intellectuals, creators and artists, who have influenced cultural life in Egypt, in addition to the signs of the “Street Story” project for characters whose names some streets bear, such as Shajaret Al-Durr, Ibn Zanki, and others.

This is in addition to the book "Zamalek Island - Value and Heritage", which is the first edition of the authority in the “Memory of the City” series, which the authority pays special attention to defining Egyptian cities with a distinct architectural character and preserving the Egyptian urban identity.

The “Memory of the City” initiative and heritage tours are an important message to preserve the urban and social history of the various historical neighborhoods and a new vision for cultural tourism in the city’s streets and urban areas.