orientalcairocit00sladuoft

26 Oriental Cairo
tlic perpendicular ; their stone has gone golden ; there is
a certain castle look about them. The two great doors
of the mosque, north and south, are invitingly open. Alone of
all Cairo's mosques El-Merdani shows you its whole heart,
a gleaming white court surrounded by a noble arcade and
graced with an ancient fountain ; an old liwdn with mighty
columns : vibnbar and inihrab and marble-panelled walls, all
rich and old and beautiful, and a roof painted with the
gay hues in which the Saracen delighted, sobered by five
hundred years. El-Merdani is one of the most lovable
as well as one of the most magnificent of mosques.
XXVIII. The Palace of the Haret-el-Merdani— the finest
Courtyard in Cairo
Here, on this first drive of Orientation, you must leave
that inimitable street which sweeps up to the Citadel from
El-Mcrdani to see the finest mansions of the Arab city.
There is one right behind the never-opened west door of
the mosque, but it is maimed of its splendour. But in
the Harct-el-Merdani, a few yards off, is another, beloved
of postcard-makers, which must in its day have been a
rival of the Palace of Sultan Bcybars. No mansion in Cairo
has such a beautiful iiia/cad, for the stairway which admits
to it leads up to a portal almost as high as the three
great arches which soar to the roof, and the gallery from
which they spring has two exquisite little pavilions of
vieshrebiya work for the ladies of the harem to use when
they wished to look on the courtyard unveiled. Other
portions of the court's facade are richly ornamented ; vast
antique stables and outhouses lead out of it ; and
below the
noble mcskrebiyad windows and sunken panels is painted a
most absurd wall-painting of the experiences of a Hadji
whu seems to have met a fat- winged Cupid on his way to
Mecca. The street door of this house with the Khedivial
badge in a lozenge is a typical specimen. Close by is
another fine old mansion not quite so good.