Khan Al-Khalili, one of the neighborhoods of Old Cairo, is a major tourist attraction for visitors to Cairo and Egypt in general.
It is characterized by the presence of bazaars, shops and popular restaurants, as well as the large number of tourists and the habituation of its residents to them.
The Khan al-Khalili neighborhood was a source of inspiration for many Egyptian writers and writers, most notably the writer Naguib Mahfouz, who wrote one of his novels whose events take place in the neighborhood and bears his name, “Khan al-Khalili,” which was turned into a movie starring the actor Imad Hamdi.
History of Khan el-Khalili
The ancient “Khan al-Khalili” neighborhood is 600 years old, and it is considered one of the oldest markets in all of Mahrousa and the Middle East, and it still preserves its ancient architecture from the Mamluk era, according to the Egyptian State Information Service.
Khan Al-Khalil was not affected by the factors of time, and remained an inspiration to writers and artists, always stimulating their imaginations to creativity, as Naguib Mahfouz wrote his novel “Khan Al-Khalili” inspired by the atmosphere of the old neighborhood, describing it as: “In the long street, you will find square buildings connecting each other.” Side paths intersect the original street, and the sides of the paths and the street itself are crowded with shops (i.e. shops). There is a shop for watchmakers and calligraphers, another for tea, a fourth for carpets, a fifth for antiques, and so on. While there are cafés located here and there, each one no larger than the size of a small shop, the craftsmen sat in front of the shops, patiently working on their art.
It is noteworthy that the khan is a large square-shaped building, surrounding a courtyard resembling an agency, while the middle layer contains shops, while the upper layers contain stores and residences, while its name goes back to the one who ordered its establishment in 784 AH, i.e. 1382 AD, which is Prince Jharakis Al-Khalili, one of the princes. The Mamluks, from Hebron, Palestine. Historical stories tell that after the killing of Al-Khalili in Damascus, the Mamluk Sultan removed his sniper Al-Ghuri Al-Khan, and established in its place agencies and shops for merchants, so the place acquired a historical character decorated with Mamluk antiquities.
If we go back in time a lot, we will see the most famous Arab historian (Al-Maqrizi), who says that the khan is a large square building surrounding a courtyard and similar to an agency, the lower level of which includes shops, and the upper levels include warehouses and residences. It was given this name in reference to its noble creator (Al-Khalili), who He was the chief merchant during the era of Sultan Barquq in 1400 AD.
If the popular proverb says: “A man crawls where she loves,” then the first bear on the grounds of the Khan must be in Al-Fishawy Café, which is more than two hundred years old, and is one of the oldest cafés in Cairo, and the great writer Naguib Mahfouz was one of its most famous patrons during the period. The sixties of the twentieth century