Saturday, 14 January 2012

The Citadel, Cairo, Egypt.

The Citadel, Cairo, Egypt

Continuing my obsession with "then & now's" I have done a series on Islamic Cairo,
for example below the Citadel. First comparing a view from the Description d"Egypt of 1794 with the same view in 2010. On the left is the Mosque of Qani Bay As-Sayfi, the centre the Bab Al-Azab and to the right, partially obscured by a tree is the Mosque of Mohammad Ali which was built between 1832-57.


The second is the  famous David Roberts print compared to photographs taken in 1983 and 2010.

David Roberts 1843, to the left is the Mosque of Qani Bay As-Sayfi [1503] in the centre the Mosque of Mahmud Pasha, [1568], and to the left the gates to the Citadel, built in 1754, the Ottoman style minaret behind is the Mosque of Ahmad al-Katkhuda al-Azab [1697]
1983, how little has changed!














2010

Twenty seven years later, note the "greening"


The third comparison, from a slightly different viewpoint, is between a 19 th. century German photograph, a early 20th. century postcard and today.







Postcard

German Photograph

2 comments:

  1. DEFINITELY time for at least 3 more blog posts!

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  2. Very nice! Here are some more old photos of the western gate of the Cairo citadel, the "Bab el-Azab", or "Bachelor's Gate" (the soldiers that manned it weren't allow to marry until the left the service.)
    - 1857 by Francis Frith:
    http://www.geh.org/ne/mismi0/m197602810044_ful.html
    also
    http://objdigital.bn.br/acervo_digital/div_iconografia/icon33582/icon33582_15.jpg
    - This wide view from the late 1800s:
    http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/92500797/
    http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/cph/3c00000/3c04000/3c04800/3c04855v.jpg
    - This closeup:
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/brooklyn_museum/2674123085/
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/brooklyn_museum/2674123085/sizes/o/

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