Holidays To Cairo

Cairo is a city of Imagination, when you visit the Citadel you could imagine yourself riding a horse in Salah El Din's army, or you could imagine that you are a messenger to the Pharaoh if you are visiting the great pyramids. Just by living in Cairo I'm experiencing a never ending fantastic holiday. Each weekend I choose a place in the historic city, grab my sketchbook and camera and I spend all day there sketching and taking photos, I have visited many places and touristic sites in Cairo which I find inspiring.

When visiting a place in Cairo for the first time you always get this rich historic feeling, and smell that magical ancient scent that lingers in the air, one thing that distinguishes Cairo from any other city in the world is that it holds in its folds monuments from lots of differant eras, and that's what made me call my graduation project "Differant Eras, But One Cairo", I was advertising Cairo as a City that is not just the pyramids and sphinx.

I consider my life in Cairo now as a holiday that regenerates as soon as I pick a new destination each weekend, some of these places are relaxing and calm like the Azhar Gardens and el Fayoom Gardens, other places are lively like the Cairo Tower, the Citadel, and the Egyptian Museum, but I really spend the most time near the religious areas like the famous Coptic area "Mar Girgis" which is full of beautiful Churches or the Islamic Mosques near old Cairo, like El Sultan Hassan Mosque, or Amr Bin El As Mosque.

If you have some great sites near your city, please share them with us here in a comment.

Islamic Art, Cairo the capital

Islamic Art chose the old city of Cairo as its capital. As Cairo was one of the main cities in Islamic history, and at the same time the destination of the most profiled artists of that time, it was bound to become the next cultural centre of the world, starting with "El Fustat Mosque" which was the first Mosque not in Cairo alone but the first to be built outside of Arabia. Now known as "Amr Bin El As Mosque Picture below taken by me" it still stands as a witness of the elegance of Islamic Architecture and art.


Islamic Art is considered the art produced by people not necessarily Muslim that lived in Islamic territories in the 7th century onwards, these artists were famous for masterpieces in the fields of architecture, calligraphy, painting, and ceramics, among others.

As is well known Islamic art is not a religious art but better known as the art of the people who committed to the rich and varied Islamic culture as well. Islamic Art is developed from many sources: Roman, Early Christian, and Byzantine styles were taken over in early Islamic architecture; the influence of Sassanian art—the architecture and decorative art of pre-Islamic Persia was of paramount significance; Central Asian styles were brought in with various nomadic incursions; and Chinese influences had an important effect on Islamic painting, pottery, and textiles.

Egypt's Arts... Sand In A Bottle

Glass is not just that window or mirror we have in our houses, it's also an art and a craft that is hard to master, Egyptians are known to have mastered the art of glass for thousands of years. Glas is made from the pure white sand that comes from the deserts of Egypt, so it was easy for Egyptians to get quickly inspired by the Idea of mastering the art of glass. Either by hand made moulded bottles or by filling a glass bottle with coloured sand. Which is a craft that is admired by all of Egypt's visitors alike.

The art of glass is one of the oldest crafts known to the Egyptians, even nowadays you can find street sellers selling their cheap bottles that they made at home, while elegant and beautifully crafted bottles are sold at fancy bazzars and antique shops.

It is said that taking a bottle full of sand home with you from Egypt is just like taking a peice of Egypt home with you, with all the elegance of history, and greatness of the Pharaohs, so if you do visit Egypt some day be sure to take a nice bottle full of sand home with you.