CAIRO 



1045 



CAIRO 



sub-divided into quarters, each, 

 in architecture, bearing the 

 stamp of the race and tastes of 

 its inhabitants. 



The old portion of the city 

 shows no trace of the advance of 

 Western influences. Crooked, 

 narrow and dirty streets are lined 

 by high stone houses with barred 

 windows. Rearing their turrets 

 and domes above the surround- 

 ing dirt and squalor are numer- 

 ous mosques, some of which are 

 strikingly beautiful and are con- 

 sidered fine examples of the best 

 Arabian architecture. The Gami- 

 ibn-Tulun, erected on what tra- 

 dition says is the spot where God 

 spoke with Moses, is a magnifi- 

 cent square building surmounted 

 by four minarets and a profusely- 

 ornamented dome. The Garni 

 Sultan Hasan, although com- 

 paratively modern, is an impos- 

 ing building, considered one of 

 the most beautiful of all the 

 mosques of Cairo. As an edu- 

 cational center, Cairo ranks 

 high among Eastern cities, its 



university, El-Azhar, the re- 

 splendent, being the oldest in the 

 world. 



The modern portion of Cairo 

 is typically French, with broad, 

 well-lighted boulevards, streets 

 lined by well-appointed stores 

 and offices, and, in the center of 

 the European colony, the fa- 

 mous Ezbekia Gardens, covering 

 an area of over twenty acres. 

 Near the garden are the govern- 

 ment offices, both British and 

 native, all the important modern 

 buildings and the palace of the 

 khedive, the nominal ruler of 

 Egypt. 



Although chiefly noted as a 

 social center, sometimes called 

 an Oriental Paris, Cairo is im- 

 portant as an industrial city. 

 The chief manufactures are tex- 

 tiles, curios to sell to tourists, 

 metal articles, gold and silver 

 work and essences of flowers. 

 Its markets receive ostrich feath- 

 ers, ivory and hides from the 

 Sudan, shawls from India, to- 

 bacco from Turkey; and it is 



