Wikala of Sultan Qaitbey

Cairo


This Mamluk-era merchant's inn dates from 1481 and was undergoing a vast restoration project when we were last in town.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Cairo attractions

1. Bab An Nasr

0.02 MILES

Napoleon’s commanders took the liberty of naming the towers of Bab An Nasr (Gate of Victory) after themselves – and carved their names into it. The entire…

2. Mosque of Al Hakim

0.07 MILES

Completed in 1013, the vast and starkly plain Mosque of Al Hakim built into the northern walls, is one of Cairo’s older mosques, but it was rarely used…

3. Bab Al Futuh

0.12 MILES

The rounded Bab Al Futah with its delicate carved stone arch and the square-towered Bab An Nasr were built in 1087 as the two main northern entrances to…

5. Beit El Suhaymi

0.19 MILES

With its fully restored paving stones and elaborate mashrabiyya (wooden lattice screens), Darb Al Asfar alley conjures up the Middle Ages – if the Middle…

6. Mosque-Sabil of Suleiman Silahdar

0.19 MILES

This 19th-century complex, built by Mohammed Ali's chief of armoury, combines a baroque-styled kuttab (Quranic school) and sabil (public fountain) at…

7. Mosque of Al Aqmar

0.23 MILES

This petite mosque, the oldest in Egypt with a stone facade, was built in 1125 by one of the last Fatimid caliphs. Several features appear here that…

8. Wikala Al Bazara

0.23 MILES

This is one of about 20 remaining wikala (merchants’ inn) in the medieval city, down from about 360 in the 17th century, when this one was built. All were…