Downtown Cairoوسط البلد

In the 1860s, Khedive Ismail — Egypt's ambitious modernising ruler — set out to give Cairo a brand-new European-style centre. Inspired by the grand boulevards of Paris, then being rebuilt by Baron Haussmann, he laid out wide straight avenues, formal squares, and elegant buildings on the open ground between the old city and the Nile. Much of it was rushed to completion for the dazzling celebrations marking the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, announcing Egypt's arrival as a modern nation.

The new district blossomed into a Belle Époque wonderland of ornate apartment blocks, grand department stores, theatres, cinemas, and cafés, centred on squares like Talaat Harb and the great open space of Tahrir. Through the early 20th century it was the cosmopolitan stage of Cairo's golden age, where Egyptians and a diverse mix of communities mingled in its boulevards. Its architecture — a romantic blend of European styles — still gives Downtown its distinctive, time-worn glamour.

Today Downtown is as busy as ever — a dense, lively quarter of shops, offices, bookstores, and old cafés, and home to the historic Egyptian Museum on Tahrir Square. While decades of wear have faded some of its splendour, recent restoration efforts are reviving its handsome buildings and reawakening interest in its heritage. To wander Downtown is to step into the elegant dream of 19th-century Cairo, still beating at the centre of the modern city.

• What it is: the elegant 19th-century European-style core of Cairo.
• Arabic name: وسط البلد (Downtown), also "Khedivial Cairo."
• Built by: Khedive Ismail, from the 1860s.
• Inspiration: a "Paris on the Nile," with grand boulevards and squares.
• Landmarks: Tahrir and Talaat Harb squares, and the Egyptian Museum.
• Today: the busy commercial and cultural heart, now being restored.

Sources include standard histories of modern Cairo. Some dates are approximate.