Al-Muizz Streetشارع المعز

Al-Muizz Street was the grand processional avenue of Al-Qahira, the city founded by the Fatimids in 969, and it is named after the caliph Al-Muizz. Running roughly north to south through the walled city — from the gate of Bab al-Futuh down to Bab Zuweila — it was the spine along which rulers built their greatest monuments for a thousand years. To follow it is to trace the entire history of medieval Cairo, written in stone.

The street is lined, almost without a gap, by medieval masterpieces: grand mosque-madrasa complexes, domed mausoleums, ornate public fountains (sabils), old merchant houses, and bathhouses, built by sultans and emirs over many centuries. Among its highlights are the great Qalawun complex and the splendid Ottoman-era Sabil-Kuttab of Abd al-Rahman Katkhuda. So concentrated are these monuments that the whole street is considered the richest stretch of Islamic architecture in the world, and forms part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Much of Al-Muizz Street has been beautifully restored and pedestrianised, making it a wonderful place to wander. By day it bustles with workshops and shoppers; by night, many of its monuments are dramatically floodlit, giving the street a magical glow. It lies right beside the famous bazaar of Khan el-Khalili and the mosque of Al-Azhar, so it is easily combined with them into an unforgettable day exploring historic Islamic Cairo.

• What it is: the medieval main street of Islamic Cairo, an open-air museum.
• Arabic name: شارع المعز (Al-Muizz Street).
• Origin: the processional avenue of Fatimid Al-Qahira, founded 969.
• Famous for: the world's densest cluster of medieval Islamic monuments.
• Runs: from Bab al-Futuh to Bab Zuweila.
• Best experienced: on foot; many monuments are floodlit at night.

Sources include standard histories of Cairo and UNESCO. Some details are approximate.