Cairo - The Necropolises and the Moqattam Hills

The cemeteries and necropolises which lay outside the old Fatimid town, to the east, have now been incorporated in the expanding city. Some of them are still in use; some, indeed, provide dwellings for the poorest of the living as well as for the dead.

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Old Cairo

Gezira

Related Attractions

Read More Burial Mosque of Qait Bey

Convent-Mosque of Sultan Barquq

Of the various tombs in the northern group is the Convent-Mosque of Sultan Barquq, a square structure measuring 240ft/73m each way with two minarets and two splendid domes (1400-05 and 1410). In the sanctuary is a fine stone pulpit of 1483.

Tombs of the Caliphs

Of particular interest are the so-called Tombs of the Caliphs (reached from Bab el-Nasr or from the Citadel), most of which date from the time of the second, or Circassian, Mameluke dynasty (1382-1517).

Tombs of the Mamelukes

The Tombs of the Mamelukes, to the south of the Citadel, largely in a state of ruin. In the southern part of this necropolis is the magnificent Burial Mosque of Imam el-Shafii (founder of the Shafiite school of Islam), built in 1211, with a massive dome.