Islamic Cairo Walking Route: Al-Mu'izz Street, Qalawun, Bab Zuweila & Khan el-Khalili

Founded in July 969 CE as the royal walled city of the Fatimid caliphs and expanded by Ayyubid, Mamluk, and Ottoman rulers between the twelfth and nineteenth centuries, UNESCO-listed Historic Cairo preserves the densest concentration of medieval Islamic monuments on Earth. The most rewarding way to experience it is a two-kilometre north-to-south walk along its pedestrianised ceremonial spine, Al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah Street (Shari'a al-Mu'izz).

1. Northern Al-Mu'izz: Bab al-Futuh (1087), Al-Hakim Mosque & Bayt al-Suhaymi

• Bab al-Futuh, Bab al-Nasr & the Northern Ramparts (1087 CE): Begin your walk at the rounded limestone towers of Bab al-Futuh ("Gate of Conquests") and square-towered Bab al-Nasr ("Gate of Victory"), erected in 1087 CE by Fatimid Armenian vizier Badr al-Jamali using repurposed pharaonic stone blocks.
• Mosque of Al-Hakim (990 to 1013 CE) & Bayt al-Suhaymi (1648): Immediately inside the gate stands the gleaming white marble courtyard and stone-encased minarets of the Mosque of Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah. Two blocks south, turn left into narrow Darb al-Asfar to tour Bayt al-Suhaymi, a merchant mansion built in 1648 and expanded in 1796 whose breeze-catching malqaf wind scoops, latticework wooden mashrabiya screens, and tiled reception halls reveal how wealthy Cairene families lived during the Ottoman era.

2. Bayn al-Qasrayn: The Mamluk Trio of Qalawun, Al-Nasir Muhammad & Barquq

• The 1284 to 1285 Complex of Sultan al-Mansur Qalawun: Continuing south past the 16th-century Ottoman Sabil-Kuttab of Abdel Rahman Katkhuda (a two-storey public water dispensary and Quranic school), the street widens into Bayn al-Qasrayn ("Between the Two Palaces"). Here three Mamluk royal foundations stand shoulder to shoulder: the 1386 Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Barquq (with its bronze-inlaid doors and stalactite porch), the 1304 Madrasa of Al-Nasir Muhammad (framed by a Gothic marble portal brought from Crusader Acre), and the monumental Complex of Sultan Qalawun (1285), whose octagonal mausoleum is adorned with mother-of-pearl mosaics, gilded coffered ceilings, and stained-glass windows.

3. Khan el-Khalili (1382), Al-Azhar Mosque (970 CE) & Climbing Bab Zuweila (1092)

• Khan el-Khalili & El-Fishawy Café: Where Al-Mu'izz intersects Al-Muski Street, turn east through the 1511 Mamluk stone arches of Bab al-Badistan into Khan el-Khalili, founded as a merchant caravanserai in 1382. Pause for mint tea among the antique mirrors of El-Fishawy Café (open since 1797), then cross the pedestrian underpass to admire the five minarets and white marble courtyard of Al-Azhar Mosque (founded 970 CE), seat of one of the oldest universities in the world.
• Wekalet el-Ghouri, Bab Zuweila & the Tentmakers' Bazaar (Khayamiya): Continuing south on Al-Mu'izz past the spice market and the 1504 Sultan al-Ghuri Complex brings you to the southern Fatimid city gate of Bab Zuweila (1092 CE). Step inside the adjoining 1415 Mosque of Al-Mu'ayyad Shaykh to climb the narrow spiral stairs up the twin minarets above the gate for an extraordinary 360-degree view over the domes of Cairo, then exit south into the 1650 covered wooden arcade of Shari'a al-Khayamiya (Street of the Tentmakers) to watch master artisans hand-stitching intricate appliqué textiles.