These
western areas, built on the model of Paris
by Ismail the Magnificent in the mid-19th
century, are marked by wide boulevards,
public gardens, and open spaces. The older
eastern section of the city is very different:
having grown up haphazardly over the centuries
it is filled with small lanes and crowded
tenaments. While western Cairo is dominated
by the government buildings and modern
architecture, the eastern half is filled
with hundreds of ancient mosques that
act as landmarks. Extensive water systems
have also allowed the city to expand east
into the desert. Bridges link the Nile
islands of Gezira and Roda, where many
government buildings are located and government
officials live. Bridges also cross the
Nile attaching the city to the suburbs
of Giza and Imbabah (part of the Cairo
conurbation).
West
of Giza, in the desert, is part of the
ancient necropolis of Memphis on the Giza
plateau, with its three large pyramids,
including the Great Pyramid of Giza (last
surviving of the Seven Ancient Wonders
of the World). Approximately 11 miles
(18 km) to the south of modern Cairo is
the site of the ancient Egyptian city
of Memphis and adjoining necropolis of
Saqqara. These cities were Cairo's ancient
predecessors, when Cairo was still in
this approximate geographical location.
Cairo incorporates an entire mediæval
section, which is now a popular neighborhood
and contains important buildings of Islamic
architecture. Al-Azhar University in the
heart of Cairo's mediæval Old City.
Cairo has the largest concentration of
mediæval structures in the world.
The current location of Cairo was too
far from the ancient course of the Nile
to support a city.
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