9 THINGS TO DO IN CAIRO’S CITY OF THE DEAD

The often misunderstood City of the Dead is a hidden gem full of Mamluk architectural treasures – and some very clever graffiti.

It’s an eerie neighborhood where people live “amongst the graves” and barefoot children play around crumbling tombstones. Riddled with crime and poverty, it’s decrepid with unnamed streets that are perfect for hiding fugitives. It’s a sinister place haunted by the spirits of the Mamluk sultans who lay buried there.

The stereotypes about Cairo’s City of the Dead are straight out of Indiana Jones.

And there are plenty of dramatic adjectives that editors love to sprinkle into headlines – and mainstream tour guides love to get mysterious about.

But if you’re looking for gorgeous Mamluk architecture, handmade crafts and authentic travel, then you’re better off ignoring the drama.

What is the City of the Dead?

The City of the Dead is an Islamic necropolis that’s an 8-kilometer stretch of tombs and mausoleums.

Its residents began to arrive in the 1950s when renewal projects forced them out of central Cairo into the suburbs. Others migrated from Egypt’s rural areas to Cairo looking for work but found the rapidly-swelling city unable to accommodate them. And so they settled and set up infrastructure that turned the stretch of graves into a residential neighborhood.

Though the area was never a cemetery in the European sense of a gated-off plot of land where the dead lay buried to be visited on special holidays.

The city’s history

Founded by Amr ibn al-As, who lead the Arab conquest of Egypt in 642 AD, the City of the Dead has been inhabited since those early centuries by grave custodians and Sufi mystics. The Fatimid Caliphate saw the City of the Dead as a place for pilgrimages. The later Mamluk sultans held military parades, religious celebrations and processions, while building their palaces on the cemetery’s main roads.

During the Ottoman era, the necropolis was dotted with Sufi colleges and madrasas.

There were always people living in this City of the Dead. And these days, it doesn’t look much different than many Cairo districts. There are tall apartment blocks, vegetable markets, schools, mechanics and post offices.

But there’s a  vibe in the City of the Dead that you won’t find elsewhere. It’s quiet compared to most of Cairo. The narrow unpaved streets mean less traffic and noise.

And despite a few enterprising companies that offer the occasional walking tour, the City of the Dead is still largely unexplored by tourists. There are no souvenir shops full of prints on fake papyrus, and no aggressive vendors that promise great deals.

But it’s packed with treasures you won’t find in the city’s modern suburbs. Some are lovingly restored, while others lay in heartbreaking neglect. Walk down El Souq St. and you’ll see an archway carved with the intricacy typical of Mamluk architecture peaking out from modern apartment blocks.

The area contains some 30 Mamluk monuments and is part of a UNESCO heritage site. It also includes many Ottoman and 19th century tombs of historic value that are largely unknown.

The City of the Dead is an unspoilt part of the city that gentrification hasn’t reached. It’s also a place that defies stereotypes. There are university grads or those who speak fluent English, and there are illiterate people.

If you want to explore this incredible neighbourhood, it has plenty to offer.

Here are the top things to do in Cairo’s City of the Dead:

1. Explore the Maq’ad of Sultan Qaitbey

The Maq’ad, or reception hall, is a great spot to begin your walking tour.

The maq’ad is of vital importance as the only surviving part of a palace the sultan built within his funerary complex. It’s an airy, spacious hall with a gorgeous wooden ceiling and colorful bean bags alongside information plaques on the sultan’s legacy.

The sultan’s spacious reception hall has been transformed into MASQ – a cultural center for the community.

2. Attend a concert of cultural event

When there’s an event or concert at MASQ, the place fills with Egyptian hipsters, artsy expats and architecture enthusiasts.

And just like the spacious reception hall once welcomed Mamluk royalty, today it welcomes anything from modern art exhibits to lively concerts inside the neighborhood that tourists normally ignore.

These cultural happenings are held regularly at MASQ – check the MASQ Facebook page for all upcoming events.

The area regularly takes part in D-CAF, downtown Cairo’s annual contemporary arts festival, and hosts fairs that spotlight the neighborhood’s craftsmen. There are also visits by contemporary artists, walking tours and music festivals.

But these events play another critical role. By putting the historic buildings to practical use, they’re ensuring the structures remain relevant. They won’t be abandoned to fall into disrepair. The residents also benefit from social development programs. These include childrens’ workshops and leather production classes that help local woman make an income.

And it’s all helping to slowly chip away at the stigma surrounding the City of the Dead, where many tourists are afraid to visit and many Egyptians don’t bother.

3. Take a walking tour

This neighbourhood has grown so popular as a off-the-beaten-path destination that walking tours are often lead by tour guides with megaphones.

You’ll explore small squares where boys play football near historic tombs. You’ll cross a narrow hallway past an apartment staircase with hanging laundry that leads through a mosque corridor.

The neighborhood’s back streets are full of life. Garlic lays out to dry on top of an old Peugeot. Unruly purple flowers cascade over a fence. Workshops turn out shisha pipes and blown glass.

There are two walking tours I’d recommend:

• MASQ organizes occasional walking tours of the neighbourhood lead by expert architects. Check their Facebook page for any upcoming events.
• Tour group Walk Like an Egyptian offers tours of the neighbourhood, and has private tour guides for hire that know this neighbourhood well.

4. Visit the mausoleum of Munkalibugha al-Fakhri

The once-glorious Mamluk tomb, built in the 1340s, was once in danger of collapsing. It’s not restored and tucked just inside the Maq’ad.

The structure shows hints of magnificence and intricate details despite some crumbled walls.

The mausoleum once served as a two-floor residence with beautiful inscriptions on the stairs and the roof.

Once it’s fully restored, it will display finds from the excavation including Ottoman tombstones, fragments of woodwork, and colorful cigarette packs from the 1920s.

5. Explore the street art and murals

There’s more to the City of the Dead than the historical monuments of its magnificent past.

There’s also some wonderful graffiti.

Clever and bright, the murals burst out from unexpected corners of dusty streets to lend the neighborhood playfulness and color. There’s a grinning mouse with the word ahlan (welcome) painted on a corner of the Salah Salem highway that entices you into streets that many Cairenes have never explored.

All around the maq’ad, and further down Souq Street, there are more witty renditions of this mouse: here holding a cat by the chain, there running away from an unraveling mummy.

The mouse is the creation of Polish graffiti artist Franek Mysza, who first came to the City of the Dead for a project with the local community.

Mysza’s mouse brightened up street corners for years in his native Silesia, a region in Southern Poland known for its mining and grey weather. The murals often contain punchlines and show up in unexpected places to cheer up the passersby, Mysza has said.

In the City of the Dead, Mysza began painting some private houses (with the owners’ permission). Many residents were skeptical at first, but once the mouse gained attention on social media others soon wanted a mural of their own.

6. Walk down Souq Street

This street has domes carved in the ornate swirls of late Mamluk architecture – which reached its peak during Qaitbey’s reign. And it has a video game arcade decorated with flags of British football teams.

There’s Mysza’s mouse on a few sidestreets. And there’s a mural depicting an ancient Egyptian king alongside a stencil of football star Mohammed Salah. The narrow street opens up into a wider square with a bright vegetable market and a kiosk loaded with soft drinks.

There are silver Mercedes and some shiny Nissans and Toyotas parked alongside old Peugeots and Fiats.

There’s a mural of the Kaaba decorating a home that shows its residents have been to Mecca. Potted plants line a doorway, and there’s a small cafe with shisha and some construction workers having tea.

You’ll catch glimpses of a Mamluk dome or tombstones in a vacant plot surrounded by the hub of everyday life.

7. Visit the complex of Faraj ibn Barquq

Finish your walk at the complex of Faraj ibn Barquq and its beautiful mosque and leafy courtyard.

The security guard may offer you a tour, and you’re welcome to walk in and wander for yourself.

The vast courtyard boasts two chevron-carved stone domes. One of the largest monuments of the Burgi Mamluk period, the complex dates from 1400-1411. Sultan Faraj built the complex as a tribute to his father, Sultan Barquq.

The complex marks one of Cairo’s first urban ventures into what was then a vast desert. It included baths, grain mills and water wheels.

8. Shop for some glass ware

The City of the Dead is known for its glass blowers – and you’ll find a few workshops selling anything from vases and drinking cups to Christmas ornaments.

9. Spend Ramadan at the City of the Dead

Ramadan, with its festivities full of lights and food, is an incredible time to explore this neighbourhood.

MASQ often organizes a variety of events during the holiday, from Egyptian folklore dances, to tanoura performances (a form of Sufi whirling) and children’s theatre.

Beyond the stereotypes

The stereotypes of the City of the Dead are more thrilling than reality. Though the neighbourhood’s real stories are far more nuanced and interesting.

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