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366 Appendix III
picturesque route to the bazars and the least crowded. The
monuments on it are all obvious, except the fine Beit-el-
Khalij, an old Arab mansion in a lane to the left just before
you reach the Tentmakers' Bazar.
No. 3, the main avenue through the bazars, is too frequently
passed to need any description. In the Suk en-Nahassin it
contains the finest mass of Saracenic architecture to be
found in Cairo, or perhaps anywhere. There are an infinite
number of beautiful and interesting bits for the artist all
round the bazars. There is a very important group for him
round the great mosque of El Azhar.
No. 4, the Gamaliya, is good for the magnificent porches
and mesJirebiya oriels, as well as mosques and fountains,
at the end nearest the bazars. At the other end there are
the two great gates of Saladin and a splendid piece of his
wall. Opposite the mosque of Sultan Beybars is the lane
leading to the palace of Sultan Beybars, the finest of all the
old Arab palaces of Cairo which visitors are readily permitted
to see. The name of the street is the Darb-el-Asfar, and the
Palace stands at the end on the right-hand side. The Beit-
el-Kadi, which has a picturesque old gateway just beside it,
is the only palace in Cairo which has a five-arched inakad.
The Gamaliya has the further advantage of being full of
native life.
No. 5, the street from the Bab-cs-Zuweyla to the Citadel, is
full of the noblest monuments. Three artists' bits which one
might miss are the beautiful wooden loggia behind the
Kismas-el-Ishaky Mosque ; the Arab Palace, only separated
by a wooden gallery from the Sha'ban Mosque, which has
at the top of its harem a magnificent but ruinous hall with
the finest kaniariya windows in Cairo ; and the exquisite
but not very noticeable fountain of Mohammed Katkhoda,
and the Koran-school above it, just where the Sharia Darbel-Ahmah
changes its name to the Sharia el-Tabbana.
No. 6 requires more explanation. Right at the back of the
Merdani Mosque is a fine but much-ruined Arab mansion,
which might mislead any one looking for the celebrated and
very perfect Arab mansion round the corner in the Haret
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