Khan el Khalili
This is an important souk in the historic center of Islamic Cairo.
The bazaar district is one of Cairo’s main attractions for tourists and Egyptians alike.
The site of Khan el-Khalili was originally the site of a mausoleum known as Turbat az-za’faraan -Saffron Tomb, which was the burial place of the Fatimid caliphs
The mausoleum was part of the Fatimid “Great – Oriental Palace complex”, begun in 970 AD. B.C., by Gawhar al-Siqilli, the general who conquered Egypt for the Fatimid dynasty and founded Cairo that same year
By the time of Sultan Barquq, the first sultan of the Turkish Mamluks, in the late 14th century,
Egypt was significantly affected by the ravages of the “Black Death,”
but it remained a center of great economic activity, with many commercial and religious buildings continuing to be built at this time
During Barquq’s first reign 1382-1389, his Master of the Stables or Prince Akhur, Jaharkas al-Khalili, destroyed the Fatimid cemetery to build a new khan
Khan was built in Arabic style. This Khan had to be a large caravanserai that could house many traders and their goods and he wanted to build this Khan in the heart of the city.
He is said to have disposed of the bones of the Fatimid royal family by throwing them on the rubbish heaps east of the city.
The Khan was close to al-Azhar and the area known as Bayn al-Qasrayn,
in the middle of Cairo’s main economic activity zone.
This economic and commercial zone stretched along the city’s main north-south axis,
the qasaba now known as al-Muizz Street and was also the privileged location
of many monumental religious complexes built throughout the Mamluk period and beyond. Later sultans also built commercial establishments nearby,
such as the wikala (another word for caravanserai) of Sultan Qaytbay and the wikala of Sultan al-Ghuri
By the end of the 15th century, the district around Khan el-Khalili had also become the main center of foreign trade, including the sale of slaves and precious stones.
In the early 16th century, Sultan al-Ghuri, the last powerful Mamluk sultan from Egypt (1501-1516), changed the layout of the entire district through a major campaign of demolition and new construction.
In addition to building its own religious and funerary complex and the great wikala,
he destroyed the original Khan built by al-Khalili and rebuilt it in 1511 as a commercial complex with monumental gates and streets in a regular grid plan
This type of complex resembled what was often referred to in other cities as a qaysariyya,
a central bazaar where the most precious goods were sold, and was protected by locked gates at night.
It is possible that this was done in imitation of similar commercial complexes in major Ottoman cities,
at a time when the Ottoman Empire was the Egyptian state of Mamluk’s greatest rival and then,
Turkish merchants probably became increasingly prominent in Cairo.
Among al-Ghuri’s constructions was the Wikala al-Qutn which means made of cotton.
Parts of this structure are still visible, including an ornate gate and the upper floors,
the facade of which is covered with iron windows where several merchants’ rooms were located.
Two other monumental gates, the Baab al-Badistan and the Baab al-Ghuri, also date from this time and still stand today.
From al-Ghuri’s reign the district became associated with Turkish merchants and during the Ottoman period Cairo’s Turkish community was centered here.
The Khan el-Khalili today is mainly inhabited by locals rather than foreign merchants and shopkeepers,
but is now completely aimed at tourists.
Shops usually sell souvenirs, antiques and jewelry,
but many traditional workshops remain active in the area and the souq,
of the neighboring goldsmith, for example, is still important to the local population.
In addition to shops and restaurants, there are several coffee houses and street food vendors located throughout the market.
The coffee shops are generally small and quite traditional, serving Arabic coffee and usually offering shisha.
One of the oldest and best-known coffeehouses is Fishawi’s, founded in 1773.
