В Египте, под горой Мукаттам, к северу от The Citadel, located Cairo Necropolis - City of the Dead. Cairo is the capital of the state, consisting of many districts, one of which is this extended cemetery. The age of the cemetery 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%the inhabitants profess Christianity, therefore the City of the Dead is an Islamic necropolis. Hearing this name, many think that it is 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 locals.
The city of the dead (Cairo), whose name is al Qarafa, translated from Arabic means "cemetery". It consists of five main cemeteries - North, South, Bab el-Nasr, Bab el-Wazir and the Great.
In memory of the departed
In the northern part of al-Carafa, the mausoleums and mosques of the sultans of Inal and Kaitbey, Faradzh Barkuk, and the Barsbey complex rise. In the southern part, the mazaras of the Mamelukes and the ancient structures of the Fatimid times were built.
Some tombs are already being destroyed, 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.
City of the Dead (Cairo) by its age refersto the oldest mass grave sites. On its territory, people from different strata of society — both ordinary citizens and representatives of blue blood — found peace. Many tourists are impressed by the magnificent tombs of the lords 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 placefor the burial of the Arab conquerors of Egypt, the Abbasids, the Fatimids, the Mamelukes, the Ottomans, and now turned into one of the slums of Cairo, where the living and the dead coexist in the neighborhood.
Alive and dead
Nowadays, this unusual metropolitan areaIt is not only the last refuge for those who have gone to another world, but also the residence of tens of thousands of the poorest Cairo who do not have another roof over their heads. The reason for this was the Egyptian crisis, the lack of affordable housing for the fast-growing population. Therefore, many poor Egyptians chose the city of the dead as their home.
Some of them, as agreed withrelatives of the departed, live directly in the crypts. As a rule, in return, they undertake to look after the graves and restore order in the surrounding area. Thanks to this arrangement, the City of the Dead (Cairo) is much cleaner than some of the main streets of the capital.
Here you can often meet boys playingfootball, 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 that in other parts of Cairo. The streets here are quiet, narrow, not asphalt. It seems that there is a completely different world behind the high walls with a decorative gate: there are continuous domes, minarets and no politics around.
al Qarafa: kings and poor
"I live here for 80 years, and my family lived on thisplace 350 years. King Farouk is buried next to 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 person." Indeed, it is much more terrible to be close to the living, from whom you do not know what to expect.
Nevertheless, since the 60s of the last century,a kind of infrastructure appeared here: shops were opened, where you can buy food, clothes and souvenirs, even houses were built. Transport goes here, people work here.
No one can accurately answer the questionhow many people live in this gloomy quarter among millions of graves. Today, the population of the City of the Dead (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): tourists reviews
Tourists who visit the City of the Dead, liketend to be discouraged. For many of them it is strange to see a city with houses where the mummified bodies of homeowners' relatives are kept. According to them, 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, consider a walk in the Citythe dead are very fascinating. It is unusual for them that living people are constantly among the tombs, and they gladly 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 tosimilar moments. Many of them visit the City of the Dead (Cairo) in order to admire the beautiful tombs of Arab rulers, for example, on the Mausoleum of Muhammad Ali. The beautiful creations of the masters of the past, who manually created magnificent buildings, do not leave the true connoisseurs of architecture indifferent.
For some, this unusual place remained inmemory as a cemetery stretched for 4 miles, in whose territory the poorest inhabitants of Cairo inhabit. They do not advise visiting the labyrinth of tombs, houses and the famous necropolis, as there it is easy to get lost without a guide and you can become a victim of robbers and other criminals.
However, having come to Egypt for a holiday, visitCity of the Dead (Cairo), whose photo does not give a complete picture of the true beauty of this area. Once on its streets, you will feel like a character "Thousand and One Nights."
