A is for Al Azhar Park

If you haven’t visited Al Azhar Park, I highly recommend taking an afternoon stroll through this gorgeous garden! Every time I have visited, I have been impressed with its upkeep and beauty. But once you learn the history of the park, you’re sure to be even more impressed. Al Azhar Park was built by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture on “a 500-year-old mound of rubble in the inner city.”

The entire project includes “the restoration of the 12th Century Ayyubid wall and the rehabilitation of important monuments and landmark buildings in the Historic City. It also encompasses an extensive social development programme, including apprenticeship arrangements, housing rehabilitation, micro-credit and health care facilities.”

Read more about the park here. (I recommend downloading the Project Briefs if you’re interested in the details of the project. )

The perfect way to spend a spring afternoon….sailing down the Nile on a feluka! The sailboats can be rented by the hour or even by the day. This one left from the docks near the entrance to Ma’adi on the Corniche. Others leave from the docks near the major hotels in downtown Cairo. Felukat are also popular with tourists in Aswan and Luxor.

Learn more about felukat.