Art and Architecture of Islamic Cairo

Since Napoleon''s invasion of Egypt in 1798, the western traveller has been obsessed with the Pharaohs and Egypt''s ancient past. Her Islamic culture has been largely ignored, and the pyramids have been allowed to cast a long shadow over the visual culture of Islamic Cairo, obscuring a magnificent art and architectural heritage that has lasted over a thousand years, from the building of the Mosque of Amr in the seventh century to that of Muhammad Ali in the nineteenth. Cairo is full of mast...