Zamelek Island - Cairo

Zamalek is an island in the Nile that  lies between modern downtown Cairo and Giza. It is an upscale, garden area with a number of attractions as well as many embassies, schools popular hotels and some of the better budget hotels.  There is also the Gezira Club, a country club originally built by the British, the modern Cairo Opera House and landmarks such as the  Cairo Tower. There are a number of fine restaurants, a lot of fast food western outlets and reasonable and interesting shopping. It is often a beautiful area with lush trees overgrowing streets, offering easy access to other important sections of Cairo.

Khedive Ismail popularized the island when he built his summer palace  there, and a number of royal families followed suite. There are several legend's surrounding Ismail's palace. One is that he built it to house three of his 14 wives, but probably the most popular story is that he built it to accommodate the Empress Eugenie during the inauguration of the Suez Canal. Certainly Eugenie, and other guests of the Suez Inauguration stayed in the palace. Today, his palace is the Marriott.

The island is also home to the Nile Hall (Saray an-Nil) and Al-Mustadira (Artists' Synicate Building) that shows works by contemporary artists, and Saray an-Nasr, where the Museum of Modern Egyptian Art is located. Other attractions include the Ministry of Culture's Akhenaten Gallery that is housed in a villa on Maahad as-Swissri street, the Italian Cultural Center and a museum housing the works of Mahmud Mukhtar, one of Egypt's internationally known artists. 



Today Zamalek is a thriving center for middle and upper class Egyptians, along with foreign dignitaries (there are more embassies in Zamalek than any other district of Cairo). It remains one of the most pleasant areas of Cairo. Indeed, it is Cairo's most fashionable residential district where one will find the BMW's and Mercedes of rich Egyptians, supermarkets that sell sushi or French pastries and always an upbeat take on Egyptian life.