It is known as Al-Muizz li-Din Allah al-Fatimi Street, is a major north-to-South Street in the walled city of historic Cairo, Egypt. It is one of Cairo's oldest streets as it dates back to the foundation of the city by the Fatimid dynasty in the 10th century, under their fourth caliph, Al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah (after whom the street is named).
Historically, it was the most important artery of the city and was often referred to as the Qasaba). It constituted the main axis of the city's economic zones where its markets were concentrated, and constituted the main urban axis of economic and religious life in Cairo. The street's prestige also attracted the construction of many monumental religious and charitable buildings commissioned by Egypt's rulers and elites, making it a dense repository of historic Islamic architecture in Cairo. This is especially evident in the Bayn al-Qasrayn area, which is lined with some of the most important monuments of Islamic Cairo.
It runs from the city gate of Bab al-Futuh in the north to the gate of Bab Zuweila in the south, both entrances in the stone walls built by the vizier Badr al-Jamali in the 11th century. This makes it one of the longest streets in the walled city, at approximately one kilometer long. Although the name al-Muizz street generally applies only to the street within the historic walled city, in practice the road begun by al-Muizz street continues (under various names) further south for a few kilometers, passing through the Qasaba of Radwan Bey (al-Khayamiya street), and finally ending at the great Qarafa necropolis (the Southern Cemetery or City of the Dead).
The Fatimids conquered Egypt in 969 CE with a North African Kutama army under the command of the general, Jawhar al-Siqilli. In 970, Jawhar was responsible for planning, founding, and constructing a new city to serve as the residence and center of power for the Fatimid Caliphs. The city was named al-Mu'izziyya al-Qaahirah, the "Victorious City of al-Mu'izz", later simply called "al-Qahira", which gave us the modern name of Cairo. The city was located northeast of Fustat, the existing capital and main city of Egypt. Jawhar organized the city so that two great palaces for the caliphs were at its center, while between them was an important plaza known as Bayn al-Qasrayn ("Between the Two Palaces"). The city's main street connected its northern and southern gates and passed between the palaces via Bayn al-Qasrayn. In this period of the city's history, however, Cairo was a restricted city accessible only to the caliph, the army, state officials, and other persons required for the palace-city's functioning.
After the demise of the Fatimid regime in 1171 under Salah ad-Din (Saladin), the city was opened up to common people and underwent major transformations. Over the subsequent centuries, Cairo developed into a full-scale urban center which eventually eclipsed the earlier city of Fustat. The Ayyubid sultans and their Mamluk successors, who were Sunni Muslims eager to erase the influence of the Shi'a Muslim Fatimids, progressively demolished and replaced the Fatimid structures with their own buildings and institutions.
The seat of power and residence of Egypt's rulers also moved from here to the newly constructed Citadel to the south, begun by Salah ad-Din in 1176. The Qasaba Avenue (al-Muizz Street) went from a partly ceremonial axis to a major commercial street with shops and markets establishing themselves along most of its length. The Khan al-Khalili commercial district developed on the Qasaba's eastern side and, partly because there was no more room to expand along that street, stretched further east towards the Mosque/shrine of al-Hussein and the Mosque of al-Azhar.
Even with the removal of the royal residences, however, its symbolic importance endured and it remained one of the most prestigious sites to erect the mosques, mausoleums, madrasas and other monumental buildings commissioned by the sultans and the high elites of the regimes. During the Mamluk period in particular, the street filled up with major architectural monuments, many of which still stand today. New royally-sponsored buildings continued to be built even in the 19th century under Muhammad Ali Pasha and his successors.
In the 20th century, the construction of a major bypass road known as al-Azhar street, running from modern downtown Cairo in the west to al-Azhar and then later to the Salah Salem highway in the east, created a major interruption in the traditional path of al-Muizz street. Today, the old city is, to some extent, split into two by this major road cutting across the former urban fabric, passing between the Khan al-Khalili area and the 16th-century Sultan al-Ghuri complex.
Some of the famous landmarks of Al-Muizz Street are:
- Al Aqmar Mosque:
One of the impressive and oldest buildings of old Islamic Cairo down El Moez Street is Al Aqmar Mosque. This small, but unique mosque along Al-Muizz Street is one of the oldest buildings in Islamic Cairo. The builders of Al-Qahira, the walled city that today forms the core of Islamic Cairo, were the Fatimids, who ruled Egypt from 969 until 1171. Originating from present-day Tunisia, they conquered Egypt and installed their Shi’a Islamic ideology as the religion of the state.
Al-Aqmar Mosque, or the Moonlight Mosque, has several unique architectural features. It was the first mosque in Cairo to use an offset façade, allowing the facade to remain square to the street front, while the rest of the building sits at an angle, aligning with the qibla, the direction of prayer toward Mecca. ·
- Bayt Al Suhaymi:
The Darb Al-Asfar (the Yellow Way) where Bayt Al-Suhaymi is located, only meters off of Al-Muizz Street, became one of Cairo’s most wealthy streets, as well-heeled citizens competed for the property close to “the Palace Walk”, the title was given to Al-Muizz Street in Naguib Mahfouz’s novel of the same name. Bayt Al-Suhaymi, built in the 17th century, was one of the grandest homes in Cairo. Restored in the past decade after having fallen into disrepair during the 20th century, this house is now a beautiful example of medieval Cairo’s finest non-monumental architecture.
- Sultan Al Mansur Qalawun Mosque:
The Impressive complex of Sultan Qalawun was built along a famous historical street in Cairo which is known as Shari' el-Muizz street in 1284 by Sultan Al Mansur Qalawun. The complex houses a Mosque, a Medersa, a Mausoleum and a Mauristan inside its walls. The Mauristan was replaced by a modern hospital in the 1920s. The complex displays the typical Mamluks architecture at that time. The exterior windows of the entire complex are inspired from Gothic style, which Sultan Qalawun was familiar with from the Crusader's churches style of architecture.
The complex is built at the heart of Islamic Cairo at a place known as Bayn Al-Qasreen, or ‘Between the Two Palaces, named for the two Fatimid Palaces that originally stood there. Like most of the Fatimid buildings in the city, these palaces were built over by subsequent rulers who sought to erase the influence of the Shi’a dynasty. Qalawun actually built his complex on the foundation of one of these palaces.
- El Ghorya:
The Ghouriyya Complex is just south of Al-Azhar Street at the beginning of the southern section of Al-Muizz Street that leads to Bab Zuweila. On the east side of the street is the mausoleum that Al-Ghuri built for himself. Tragically, his remains were lost in battle with the Ottomans and never buried there.
The complex was built as a unique, multi-use space. It included the mosque and the mausoleum, but also a sabil that provided free water to the people, administrative space, and a covered market among other things. Some parts of the original building have been demolished, but the Wikila Al-Ghuri still stands further east beyond several modern buildings.
Some other Historical Buildings of Al-Moez Street:
- Mosque of Al Hakim bi Amr Allah
- Mosque of Sulayman Agha al-Silahdar
- Sabil-Kuttab of Abdel Rahman Katkhuda
- Qasr Bashtak
- Sabil of Ismail Pasha
- Hammam of Sultan Inal
- Madrasa of Al-Kamil Ayyub
- Madrasa of Barquq
- Madrasa of Al-Nasir Muhammad
- Mosque of Taghri Bardi
- Sabil-Kuttab of Khusraw Pasha
- Madrasa of Al-Salih Ayyub
- Mosque of Al-Ashraf Barsbay
- Khan al-Khalili: a souq district stretching between al-Muizz Street and al-Hussein square.
- Mosque of Shaykh Ali Al-Mutahhar
- Mosque of Al-Ashraf Barsbay
- Madrasa of Sultan Al-Ghuri
- Mausoleum of Sultan Al-Ghuri
- Fakahani Mosque
- Sabil of Tusun Pasha
- Mosque of Muayyad
- Wikala and Sabil of Nafisa Bayda
- Mosque of Salih Tala'i
- Qasaba of Radwan Bey
- Zawiya of Farag Ibn Barquq