The Museum of Islamic Artمتحف الفن الإسلامي

The museum holds one of the largest and finest collections of Islamic art in the world, with tens of thousands of objects, many of breathtaking quality. Its galleries display intricately carved woodwork, inlaid metalwork, enamelled glass, lustrous ceramics, fine carpets, and illuminated manuscripts, drawn from across the Islamic world and from the great dynasties — Fatimid, Ayyubid, Mamluk, and Ottoman — that shaped Cairo. Together they tell the story of more than a thousand years of artistic brilliance.

The museum suffered a serious blow in 2014, when a bomb aimed at a nearby building badly damaged its historic premises and some of its collection. The response was a major international restoration effort: the building was repaired, damaged objects were painstakingly conserved, and the museum reopened with refreshed, modern displays. Today it once again presents its treasures in beautiful surroundings, a story of resilience and renewal as much as of art.

The Museum of Islamic Art stands in central Cairo, on the edge of the historic Islamic city. It makes a perfect companion to a walk through Islamic Cairo and Al-Muizz Street: where those streets show the great buildings of Islamic art, the museum reveals the exquisite objects that once filled them. For anyone fascinated by the craftsmanship and beauty of the Islamic world, it is one of Cairo's most rewarding museums.

• What it is: one of the world's finest collections of Islamic art.
• Arabic name: متحف الفن الإسلامي (the Museum of Islamic Art).
• Holdings: woodwork, metalwork, glass, ceramics, carpets, and manuscripts.
• Spanning: the Fatimid, Ayyubid, Mamluk, and Ottoman eras and beyond.
• History: damaged by a 2014 bombing, then restored and reopened.
• Where: central Cairo, beside the historic Islamic city.

Sources include museum and travel references. Some details are approximate.