BAZAAR IN THE STREET LEADING TO THE MOSQUE 
EL-MOORISTAN, CAIRO. 
Mr. Roberts states in a note upon this sketch the difficulty which an artist has in 
making a drawing in Cairo of such a scene. “ The view,” he says, “ was taken from 
the steps of a fountain,—one of those elegant structures which have been raised by 
the benevolence of individuals to furnish a draught of water to any person, who desires 
it, as he passes. This bazaar of the Khan Khaleal is situated in the principal street, 
the Cheapside of Cairo, which leads from the Gate of Metwalis to Bab-e-Nasr. It is 
crowded by such an endless throng, that to undertake to make a drawing there is 
disheartening, for you are not only liable to jostling and interruption, but the crowd, 
ignorant of what you are doing, are not so much disposed to interrupt you from 
cui'iosity as from hatred and dislike to a Frank, which they would willingly show by 
gross offence if they dared. Just as I had finished a drawing, a half-sucked orange 
was thrown from a window above me, and struck my sketch-book out of my hand: 
on looking up the assailant had disappeared. The overhanging structures, like vast 
projecting cages, afford great facility for such a freak; but, perhaps, a Turk sketching 
in Cheapside might not have escaped more easily from interruption, though not in the 
same way.” 
The large ruined building on the left was formerly the sumptuous residence of 
one of the extirpated Memlook chiefs; it is now rapidly hastening to decay. Beneath 
are the shops, or bazaars, where the merchants sit as usual to smoke or read the 
Koran, to pray or to deal if a customer applies; for either or all these are public 
acts, and the owners appear to be utterly indifferent to the crowds who pass their 
places of business. 
The fine minaret which bounds the view, with its striped and chequered walls and 
ever-varying balconies and enrichments, belongs to the mosque of the Sultan Kalaoon, 
better known as the Mooristan, or madhouse of Cairo, which was established by that 
Sultan A.n. 1287. On its foundation, many wise and benevolent arrangements were 
made for the benefit of the unfortunate inmates. The ablest medical men and regular 
nurses were attached to the establishment, and a band of music played at intervals to 
relieve their minds. In time, embezzlement and neglect left the condition of the patients 
most wretched. In 1833, Ahmed Pasha Talier repaired the building, and re-established 
what was necessary; but lately the lunatic’s have been removed to another hospital. 
In the mosque is the tomb of the founder, and near it, forming part of the same 
mass of building, is the tomb of his son, Naser Mohammed, who finished the Mooristan. 
The tomb of the Sultan Kalaoon is handsome, and the enrichments of mother-of-pearl 
and mosaics in the Byzantine taste have a rich and curious effect. 
