House in CairoHouse in Cairo.Kahira, or Cairo.Thiscity, which is the capital of Modern Egypt, is situated in a plain between the eastern bank of the river Nile and the ridge of Mokattam. It occupies about three square miles, and is surrounded by a wall, and commanded by a large citadel, where the pacha resides. The streets are unpaved and narrow, some of them having rows of shops on each side.The roofs of the houses are flat, and covered with plaster. The ground floor apartments next the street have small wooden grated windows; but those of the upper stories are formed of wooden lattice-work, which is so close that it shuts out much of the light of the sun, but admits the air. In the better houses, the windows are furnished with frames of glass in the inside; these are closed in the winter.There are many public buildings in Kahira. The mosques are numerous, and some of them distinguished for their size, architecture, and great age. There are also many public baths, which are handsomely ornamented and painted, and in some parts paved with marble. The public gardens are filled with groves of orange and lemon trees, and the cemeteries are also much used as promenades.The population is estimated at twenty-four thousand, consisting of natives, Jews and strangers. The police maintained in the metropolis is tolerably strict. Malefactors are mostly employed in the public works.Kahira still maintains the reputation of being the best school of Arabic literature, theology and jurisprudence. Schools for children are very numerous; almost every mosque has akoottab, or day school attached to it, in which children are instructed in reading the Koran, and in writing and arithmetic.
House in CairoHouse in Cairo.
House in Cairo.
Thiscity, which is the capital of Modern Egypt, is situated in a plain between the eastern bank of the river Nile and the ridge of Mokattam. It occupies about three square miles, and is surrounded by a wall, and commanded by a large citadel, where the pacha resides. The streets are unpaved and narrow, some of them having rows of shops on each side.
The roofs of the houses are flat, and covered with plaster. The ground floor apartments next the street have small wooden grated windows; but those of the upper stories are formed of wooden lattice-work, which is so close that it shuts out much of the light of the sun, but admits the air. In the better houses, the windows are furnished with frames of glass in the inside; these are closed in the winter.
There are many public buildings in Kahira. The mosques are numerous, and some of them distinguished for their size, architecture, and great age. There are also many public baths, which are handsomely ornamented and painted, and in some parts paved with marble. The public gardens are filled with groves of orange and lemon trees, and the cemeteries are also much used as promenades.
The population is estimated at twenty-four thousand, consisting of natives, Jews and strangers. The police maintained in the metropolis is tolerably strict. Malefactors are mostly employed in the public works.
Kahira still maintains the reputation of being the best school of Arabic literature, theology and jurisprudence. Schools for children are very numerous; almost every mosque has akoottab, or day school attached to it, in which children are instructed in reading the Koran, and in writing and arithmetic.