Living in Cairo we tend to forget there s a number of places to explore at our doorstep. We pass museums every day, often making note that we should pop in for a visit – one day. But that day never seems to come.
Whatever your interests you re bound to find a museum that you will enjoy visiting. The Daily Star Egypt has compiled a list of some of their favorite museums.
The Agricultural Museum
Even if you have no interest in agriculture, check out this museum. Of the 125 thousand square meters, only 20 thousand are given over to the museum building, of which another 20 percent are a riot of rare flowers and plants. The extensive gardens are an oasis of peaceful greenery in a capital city with a frenetic pace.
Originally the palace of the Princess Fatma, daughter of the Khedive Ismail, it took the Ministry of Agriculture eight years to prepare the palace, which was opened as a museum in 1938. It contains 10 halls, some of which are closed.
There’s something for everyone. Bread, a vital part of life in Egypt, gets its own hall, with everything from different kinds of wheat to a machine used for filtering flour in ancient Egypt. Take a walk though the Egyptian countryside on the ground floor. And bug fans can get all fluttery over the insect collection, which actually contains a display of rare luminous bugs.
The Ahmed Shawki Museum
Ahmed Shawki is a pivotal figure in Arabic literature. A poet of astonishing range and sensitivity, he was blessed with a good heart that earned him the love of thousands and patriotism that earned him the hatred of the British, who exiled him after the outbreak of World War One.
This museum was his home. It’s a beautiful building that he first acquired in 1914 and named ‘Karmet Ibn Hani’ in or Ibn Hani’s Vineyard, after the poet Abu Nawwas. Set in generous gardens, the white building is guarded by bronze cherubim and a bronze statue of the poet, commissioned by the Italian government in 1962. The Mohamed Abdel Wahab Suite on the ground floor showcases many of the singer’s works – Abdel wahab was discovered and championed by Shawki. For fans, there is an excellent audio library of his works.
Upstairs, you can see the poet’s bedroom and study. They have not changed since he was there, the antique furniture is all his. On the same floor is his wife’s bedroom also containing original furnishings.
This is a beautiful house, rich with history and well worth an afternoon’s visit.
Coptic Museum
Coptic Art is particularly relevant in Egyptian history since it’s considered a link between ancient Egyptian art in the Pharonic and Graeco-Roman periods and the Islamic period. Rich in culture and art, and boasting a specific and arresting character, Coptic art is a must-see part of the country’s culture.
The museum was founded by Morcos Smeika Pasha in 1910 on land donated by the Coptic Church. The museum lies in the Babylon Fort, an area of tremendous historical importance that dates back to the Roman period.
Make for the libraries, which contain an excellent collection of Coptic art and manuscripts, written on paper and linen. The texts are written in Coptic, Arabic, Greek, Latin and Amharic.
If all the culture gets too much for you, make for the garden and enjoy the serenity.
Al-Gawhara Palace
If you’re visiting The Citadel, make sure that you make time for Al- Gawhara Palace.
Built by Mohamed Aly in 1814 essentially as a private residence, this palace also housed his guests and various administrative offices. The palace, which is currently being renovated (section by section so as to keep it open to visitors) is a beautiful example of Ottoman architecture with strong European influences.
The palace was named for Gawhara Hanem, the last of Mohamed Aly’s wives. The name has often led people to think that it housed jewels. An attempted theft in 1972 resulted in a fire that practically gutted the building.
Right outside the entrance is possibly Cairo’s most spectacular view of Islamic Cairo. The entrance holds an enormous gilt and marble mirror – when going in to see the Mohamed Aly, you were best off making sure that you looked your best.
Upstairs you can take in the enormous gilt throne which was a present from the King of Italy. Family portraits adorn the walls, chandeliers hang from the ceilings and marble staircases are winged by flying angels.
The Royal bedroom indicates that the Aly must have been a little on the short side. It didn’t hold him back, apparently. He established sole control in Egypt by inviting 470 Mamelukes to a feast and then promptly having them shot on their way out. Legend has it that only one of them escaped, by leaping his horse over the rampart and jumping off right before it crashed. Apparently, he escaped with a broken ankle.
The horse wasn’t so lucky.
Taha Hussein Museum
Taha Hussein is one of the most important names of Modern Arabic Literature. However, he’s also a leading social and political reform who struggled for the provision of education to the poor and emancipation for women.
Born in Upper Egypt in 1889, young Taha went blind at the age of three. He went on to receive the first PhD ever granted from an Egyptian University in 1914 and followed it up with one from the Sorbonne four years later.
It was Hussein who finally pushed through free education and the primary and secondary levels as Minister of Education, he translated the works of Greek philosophers, produced a revolutionary and highly controversial work on Pre-Islamic poetry and somewhere along the way found the time to produce some of modern Arabic Literature’s finest examples.
After his death in 1973, his home was turned into a museum in called The Ramatan (two oasis where travelers could stop to rest.) Hussein built the house so that he and his son could both have separate and private residences and entrances while remaining close.
The museum or Ramatan is made up of two stories. The ground floor houses Dr. Taha Hussein s study and a part of his 7,000 book library, a great reception hall where he received writers, politicians and artists every Sunday evening. In one of the corners of this hall stand a huge piano, a gramophone and records of rare musical works by Schubert, Verdi, Bach, Mozart, Schumann and others.
