The Citadel, Cairo, Egypt
Continuing my obsession with “then & now’s” I have done a series on Islamic Cairo,
for example below the Citadel. First comparing a view from the Description d”Egypt of 1794 with the same view in 2010. On the left is the Mosque of Qani Bay As-Sayfi, the centre the Bab Al-Azab and to the right, partially obscured by a tree is the Mosque of Mohammad Ali which was built between 1832-57.
The second is the famous David Roberts print compared to photographs taken in 1983 and 2010.
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| David Roberts 1843, to the left is the Mosque of Qani Bay As-Sayfi [1503] in the centre the Mosque of Mahmud Pasha, [1568], and to the left the gates to the Citadel, built in 1754, the Ottoman style minaret behind is the Mosque of Ahmad al-Katkhuda al-Azab [1697] |
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| 1983, how little has changed! |
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| 2010 |
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| Twenty seven years later, note the “greening”
The third comparison, from a slightly different viewpoint, is between a 19 th. century German photograph, a early 20th. century postcard and today.
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| Postcard |
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| German Photograph |
Alex
DEFINITELY time for at least 3 more blog posts!
Flashes of Sunlight
Very nice! Here are some more old photos of the western gate of the Cairo citadel, the "Bab el-Azab", or "Bachelor's Gate" (the soldiers that manned it weren't allow to marry until the left the service.)
– 1857 by Francis Frith:
http://www.geh.org/ne/mismi0/m197602810044_ful.html
also
http://objdigital.bn.br/acervo_digital/div_iconografia/icon33582/icon33582_15.jpg
– This wide view from the late 1800s:
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/92500797/
http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/cph/3c00000/3c04000/3c04800/3c04855v.jpg
– This closeup:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brooklyn_museum/2674123085/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/brooklyn_museum/2674123085/sizes/o/