Zamalek ( , ''al zamalek'') is a ''qism'' (ward) within the West District (''hayy gharb'') in the Western Area of

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. It is an affluent district on a man-made island which is geologically a part of the west bank of the

Nile The Nile (also known as the Nile River or River Nile) is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa. It has historically been considered the List of river sy ...

River, with the ''bahr al-a'ma'' (Blind Canal) cut during the second half of the 19th Century to separate it from the west bank proper. The northern third has been developed into a residential area, which was home to 14,946 people during the 2017 census. The southern two thirds are mostly sports grounds and public gardens, a stark green reserve in the middle of Cairo. The island is connected with the river banks by four bridges: The Qasr El Nil Bridge, Galaa Bridge, 15 May Bridge and 6th October Bridge.

Description

The island is divided into a northern third that is fully urbanised, and generally referred to as Zamalek, same as the official qism name covering the entire island from 1983. And the southern, green two thirds that have sports grounds, parks and a cultural district, and is still

colloquially Colloquialism (also called ''colloquial language'', ''colloquial speech'', ''everyday language'', or ''general parlance'') is the linguistic style used for casual and informal communication. It is the most common form of speech in conversation am ...

referred to as Gezira (lit. island in Arabic), the original name of the island as is reflected in the names of many institutions there, for example the

Gezira Sporting Club The Gezira Sporting Club (, Arabic transliteration, transliteration:''nādī al-ǧazyrah al-reyādī'') is the largest multi-sport facility in Egypt. It was founded in 1882 and was originally called Khedivial Sporting Club. It is located on th ...

, Sofitel Cairo Nile El-Gezira Hotel, and the Gezira Police Station.

Zamalek (Northern part)

The Zamalek portion of the island is a mixed residential and administrative neighbourhood that is almost a diplomatic quarter with at least 52 embassies and consulates, in addition to a number of ambassadors' residences taking up what is left of its early 20th Century villas and mansions, many of them of the

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...

style. Along with

Maadi Maadi ( ) is a leafy and once suburban district in the Southern Area of Cairo, Egypt, on the east bank of the Nile about upriver from downtown Cairo. The modern extensions north east and east of Maadi, New Maadi and Zahraa al-Maadi are admini ...

, Mohandessin, Heliopolis, and Garden City, it is one of the more affluent residential districts in

Greater Cairo The Greater Cairo () is a metropolitan area centered around Cairo, Egypt. It comprises the entirety of the Cairo Governorate, the cities of Imbaba and Giza in the Giza Governorate, and the city Shubra El Kheima in Qalyubia Governorate. Its def ...

, a fact reflected by clocking the highest average real estate prices in the city. Paradoxically, many apartment buildings suffer sporadic maintenance because the landlords rarely make improvements; the

rent control Rent regulation is a system of laws for the rental market of dwellings, with controversial effects on affordability of housing and tenancies. Generally, a system of rent regulation involves: *Price controls, limits on the rent that a landlord ...

law (Old Rent) that allows several Zamalek complexes to house low income and middle income Egyptians despite the expensive real estate. Hessler, Peter.
Tales of the Trash
(). ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

''. 13 October 2014. Retrieved 4 August 2015. The northern third of the island is also culturally active: with art galleries, book stores and museums, including the Museum of Islamic Ceramics, the Aisha Fahmy Palace/ Zamalek Arts Center, and El Sawy Culture Wheel. Cairo's main Fine Arts faculty is in Zamalek, as well as the Conervatoire music college. Zamalek's first major building, the 1869 Gezira Palace, still survives though as part of a hotel, and its former grotto is now the fish-free Aquarium Grotto Garden.

Gezira (Southern part)

The southern two thirds of Zamalek is a mostly green area with sports grounds, parks and a cultural district. Dominating the middle is the originally colonial

, while in the middle of its horse race course is the post-independence Gezira Youth Center. Zamalek is also paradoxically home to the famous top league Ahly Sporting Club, and the Equestrian Club. A former fair grounds located near the Qasr al-Nil and Galaa bridges has been converted over time into a cultural district where the central attraction is the modern

Cairo Opera House The Cairo Opera House (, ''Dār el-Opera el-Masreyya''; literally "Egyptian Opera House"), part of Cairo's National Cultural Centre, is the main performing arts venue in the Egyptian capital. Home to most of Egypt's finest musical groups, it is ...

. Others are the Modern Egyptian Art Museum, the Gezira Art Museum (arts collection from the former royal family), Arts Palace, the Hanager Arts Center, the Music Library, and the Cairo Planetarium, though long disused. Opposite the grounds is the Ramses Wissa Wassef designed Mukhtar Museum.

History

Under

Khedive Ismail Isma'il Pasha ( ; 25 November 1830 or 31 December 1830 – 2 March 1895), also known as Ismail the Magnificent, was the Khedive of Khedivate of Egypt, Egypt and ruler of Turco-Egyptian Sudan, Sudan from 1863 to 1879, when he was removed at the ...

the Island was called "Jardin des Plantes" (Garden of Plants), because of its great collection of exotic plants shipped from all over the world. French

landscape designer Landscape design is an independent profession and a design and art tradition, practiced by landscape designers, combining nature and culture. In contemporary practice, landscape design bridges the space between landscape architecture and garde ...

De la Chevalerie designed the island's landscape plan, gardens, and

plant nurseries A nursery is a place where plants are propagated and grown to a desired size. Mostly the plants concerned are for gardening, forestry, or conservation biology, rather than agriculture. They include retail nurseries, which sell to the general ...

. On the east shore a kiosk was built for attending the island and supervising its development. Although the area is known as "Gezira Island", this is an unknown nomenclature for those living in Cairo and adjacent areas, most Egyptians know the area simply as "Zamalek". The kiosk was replaced in 1869 with the Gezirah Palace, a U-shaped summer

mansion A mansion is a large dwelling house. The word itself derives through Old French from the Latin word ''mansio'' "dwelling", an abstract noun derived from the verb ''manere'' "to dwell". The English word ''manse'' originally defined a property l ...

, which was designed by Julius Franz Pasha and decorated by Karl Von Diebitsch. The palace was built and first used for guests attending the 1869 opening of the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...

. Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria and Eugénie, Empress of the French were some of the noble guests of the palace. Today the Gezira Palace is the central part of the Cairo Marriott Hotel, with its rooftop having an open-air theatre facing the Nile. Other palaces were also built in Zamalek, including Prince of the Sa'id Toussoun's palace, which is now a branch of the

Council of Ministers Council of Ministers is a traditional name given to the supreme Executive (government), executive organ in some governments. It is usually equivalent to the term Cabinet (government), cabinet. The term Council of State is a similar name that also m ...

, and Prince Amr Ibrahim Palace (1924), which is now the Museum of Islamic Ceramics. In 1882 the

was built in the southern region of the island. Later a water garden known as the "Grotto Garden", with a rare collection of African fish, was built by British Captain Stanley Flower in Zamalek. Several notable Egyptian figures lived in Zamalek including the Diva of the East

Umm Kulthum Umm Kulthum (; 31 December 1898 – 3 February 1975) was an Egyptians, Egyptian singer and film actress active from the 1920s to the 1970s. She was given the honorific title (). Immensely popular throughout the Middle East and beyond, Umm Kul ...

and the famous movie star

Salah Zulfikar Salah El-Din Ahmed Mourad Zulfikar (, ; 18 January 1926 – 22 December 1993) was an Egyptian actor and film producer. He started his career as a Egyptian National Police, police officer, before becoming an actor in 1956. He is regarded as one o ...

Administrative subdivisions and population

The 2017 census counted 14,946 residents in the island's four shiakhas.

Landmarks

Al Ahly SC Al-Ahly Sporting Club (), commonly known as Al-Ahly, is an List of football clubs in Egypt, Egyptian professional sports club based in Cairo, Egypt. The club is mainly known for its professional Association football, football team which curren ...

(1907), the most successful sporting club in

. *

(1882), the oldest club in

. *

Cairo Tower The Cairo Tower (, ''Borg El-Qāhira'') is a free-standing concrete tower in Cairo, Egypt. At , it was the tallest structure in Egypt for 37 years until 1998, when it was surpassed by the Suez Canal overhead powerline crossing. It was the tallest ...

(1960), the tallest

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

construction in

, built near the Gezira Sporting Club. * Egyptian Opera House (1988), built near the Cairo Tower, and one of the better performing arts venues in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

. * El Sawy Culture Wheel Centre (2003), () located beneath 15 May Bridge in Zamalek, one of the most important cultural venues in Egypt. * Museum of Islamic Ceramics *

Faculty of Fine Arts Faculty or faculties may refer to: Academia * Faculty (academic staff), professors, researchers, and teachers of a given university or college (North American usage) * Faculty (division), a large department of a university by field of study (us ...

(1908) * All Saints' Cathedral, Cairo * Gezirah House, Omarah El Yamani, Oldest Building in Zamalek

Education

International schools: * Lycée Français du Caire Zamalek Primary Campus * Pakistan International School of Cairo * Previously, the British International School in Cairo (BISC)Home
" British International School in Cairo. 24 January 2001. Retrieved 19 July 2018. "Our physical address is: 5 El Yemeni Street Zamalek Cairo Egypt"

Embassies

There are a number of embassies in Zamalek: * Albania * Algeria * Argentina * Armenia * Austria * Bahrain * Brazil * Brunei * Bulgaria * Chile * China * Colombia * Croatia * Cyprus * Democratic Republic of the Congo * Estonia * Finland * Germany * Holy See * Hungary * India * Iraq * Ireland * Latvia * Lebanon * Libya * Lithuania * Mauritius * Morocco * Myanmar * Nepal * Netherlands * Nigeria * North Korea * Norway * Oman * Panama * Poland * Portugal * Romania * Serbia * Spain * Sri Lanka * Sweden * Tunisia * Uruguay * Vietnam

References

{{Coord, 30, 04, N, 31, 13, E, display=title, region:EG_type:city_source:GNS-enwiki + Districts of Greater Cairo Districts of Cairo