Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume III.djvu/559

CAIRO 553 storehouses; the extensive bazaars present a goodly array of the merchandise of the East. There are many public fountains, often elabo- rately ornamented with arabesque work, and a great number of coffee houses, some of which are highly interesting during the fast of Rama- dan, when the performances of the Kara- gius, or Turkish Punch, take place. But the boast of Cairo is its mosques, of which there are said to be as many as 400, some of them elegant specimens of Arabian architecture. The most celebrated mosque is that of Sultan Hassan, situated near the citadel. It has a magnificent entrance beautifully embellished with honeycombed tracery. The interior is an unroofed court, having on each side a square recess covered with a noble arch. At the E. end is a niche for prayer and a pulpit with some colored glass vases of Syrian manufacture, bearing the name of the sultan, suspended on either side. ' Behind, and forming a portion of the edifice, built of stone and surmounted with a dome, is the tomb. Attached to another mosque is a hospital for insane and other help- less persons, who are gratuitously supported in great numbers. The mosque El-Azhar is cele- brated for the beauty of its architecture, and for a college to which hundreds of students resort from all parts of the Mohammedan world, and which is the great centre of the study of Arabian literature. The mosque of Tulun, founded A. D. 879, contains specimens of the pointed arch, which was afterward in- troduced into Europe, and is one of the dis- tinguishing characteristics of the Gothic style of architecture. N. E. of the city, just out- side of the walls, are a number of beautiful Buined Mosque of Tulun. mosques, built over the tombs of the Circassian and Borgite Mamelukes. In the 8. E. part of the town is the citadel, on a hill, 250 feet above the rest of the city, containing the palace of the khedive, the mint, a manufactory of arms, various government offices, barracks, and other buildings, and a splendid mosque, begun by Mehemet Ali. Within the citadel is a deep well cut through the rock to the depth of 280 ft., intended to supply the citadel in case of siege. It consists of two portions, the upper part being an oblong square, 24 ft. by 18, and 155 Mosque of Mehemet Ali. ft. deep, and the lower having a similar shape, 51 ft. by 9, and 125 ft. deep. The water, which is brackish and not used for drinking, is raised from the lower well into a basin at the bottom of the upper, whence it is conveyed to the citadel above. It is commonly designated Joseph's well, after Saladin, who is said to have constructed it, and who was also called Joseph. It is vulgarly ascribed to the son of Jacob. The citadel, which affords a splendid view of the city, of the Nile, and of the pyra- mids, commands the city, but is itself com- manded by a neighboring ridge of the Mokka- tam mountains, and is therefore of no utility against an attack from without. The different races who inhabit Cairo live in distinct quar- ters, of which there are many, as the Jews' quarter, the Frank quarter, the Coptic quar- ter, &c. The streets leading to each quarter are closed at night by gates. The city is divided for purposes of police regulation into eight wards, each of which has a separate pre- siding officer, while the whole are under the superintendence of one common chief. Each trade or calling has also its sheikh or head, who is in some measure responsible for the conduct of the members of his guild. Justice is admin- istered in a summary manner ; and breaches of the public peace are said to be less common than in some European cities. The khedive maintains a theatre for French comedy, and an opera house, with a good ballet. In the Frank quarter are the library of the Egyptian society, and the Egyptian library association. Ibrahim Pasha's library comprised the works of the most noted Arabic and Turkish authors. The same prince began the collection of Egyptian antiquities, and there is also a similar collection