In Egypt, under Mount Mukattam, north of the Citadel, is the Cairo Necropolis - City of the Dead. Cairo is the capital of the state, consisting of many areas, one of which is this long cemetery. The age of the burial ground exceeds two millennia, and the territory is constantly increasing. Now its length is more than 6 kilometers.
City of the Dead (Cairo)
Egypt is considered a Muslim country, only 15% of the inhabitants profess Christianity, so the City of the Dead is an Islamic necropolis. Hearing this name, many think that we are talking about the Great Pyramids located in Giza, near Cairo. But in fact, this is the name of the largest cemetery located in the capital of Egypt. By the way, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. But, despite this status, the necropolis is not popular among tourists and local residents.
City of the Dead (Cairo), whose name is al Qarafa, translated from Arabic means "cemetery". It consists of five main cemeteries - Northern, Southern, Bab al-Nasr, Bab al-Wazir and the Great.
In memory of the departed
In the northern part of al-Qarafah, mausoleums and mosques of the sultans Inal and Qaitbey, Faraj Barkuk and the Barsbey complex rise. In the southern part, the mazelos of the Mamelukes and the ancient buildings of the times of the Fatimids were built.
Some tombs are already collapsing, while others are intact, as they are made of marble. As in life, noble people are buried in large tombs, while ordinary mortals have modest tombstones.
The city of the dead (Cairo) by its age belongs to the oldest mass grave sites. On its territory, people from different walks of life - both ordinary citizens and representatives of blue bloods - found peace. Many tourists are impressed by the magnificent tombs of the rulers of the world who lived several centuries ago, as well as the way their relatives honored the memory of their departed family members.
Initially, this cemetery was erected as a burial place for the Arab conquerors of Egypt, the Abbasids, Fatimids, Mamelukes, Ottomans, and now it has turned into one of the slums of Cairo, where the living and the dead coexist in the neighborhood.
The living and the dead
Today, this unusual metropolitan area is not only the last refuge for those who have gone to another world, but also the place of residence of tens of thousands of the poorest Cairo people who have no other roof over their heads. The reason for this was the Egyptian crisis, the lack of affordable housing for a rapidly growing population. Therefore, many poor Egyptians chose the city of the dead as their home.
Some of them, in agreement with the relatives of the deceased, live directly in the crypts. As a rule, in return they undertake to look after the graves and restore order in the adjacent territory. Thanks to such an arrangement, the City of the Dead (Cairo) is much cleaner than some of the main streets of the capital.
Here you can often find boys playing football, and women hanging clothes between tombstones. For many of them, the City of the Dead has long become a real home. Life here is different from what is boiling in other parts of Cairo. The streets here are quiet, narrow, not paved. It seems that behind the high walls with decorative gates there is a completely different world: all around are solid domes, minarets and no politics.
al Qarafa: kings and poor
“I have been living here for 80 years, and my family has lived in this place for 350 years. King Farouk is buried near my house, ”said a local resident of the City of the Dead in 2011. Despite such a strange neighborhood, he believed that “living with the dead is a good thing for an old man.” Indeed, it is much worse to be near the living, from whom you do not know what to expect.
Nevertheless, starting from the 60s of the last century, a certain semblance of infrastructure appeared here: shops were opened where you can buy products, clothes and souvenirs, even houses were built. Transport goes here, people work here.
No one can accurately answer the question of how many people live in this gloomy quarter among millions of graves. Today, the population of the City of the Dead district (Cairo) continues to grow due to the migration of villagers, natural disasters and the housing crisis. Presumably, we are talking about a half-million settlement.
City of the Dead (Cairo): traveler reviews
Tourists who visit the City of the Dead are generally discouraged. For many of them, it is strange to see a city with houses where mummified bodies of relatives of homeowners are stored. In their opinion, this sight is not for the faint of heart. Despite the fact that people with low income live here, for most tourists it is difficult to understand how you can stay in a house with a tomb in another room in order to save on expenses.
Others, on the contrary, find the walk in the City of the Dead very exciting. It is unusual for them that living people are constantly among the tombs, and they are happy to respond to the offer of local residents to go to their homes.
And yet he is beautiful
But not all guests of the capital pay attention to such moments. Many of them visit the City of the Dead (Cairo) in order to admire the most beautiful tombs of the Arab rulers, for example, the mausoleum of Muhammad Ali. The beautiful creations of the masters of the past, who created manually magnificent structures, do not leave indifferent true connoisseurs of architecture.
For some, this unusual place remained in my memory as a cemetery stretched for 4 miles, in whose territory the poorest inhabitants of Cairo live. They do not advise visiting the labyrinth of tombs, houses and the famous necropolis, since it is easy to get lost without a guide there and you can become a victim of robbers and other criminals.
Nevertheless, having come to rest in Egypt, visit the City of the Dead (Cairo), whose photo does not give a complete picture of the true beauty of this area. Once in its streets, you will feel like a character in "A Thousand and One Nights."