The Al-Azhar Park in Egypt is located on a hilly site and surrounded by historic
districts of Islamic Cairo. This park has become a popular destination amongst
the many visitors to the city. Al- Azhar Park is Located in the heart of the city
and offers panoramic view of the surrounding area.
The Al-Azhar Park was made with effort of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture in
1984, on 30 hectare (74 acre) land with the Islamic belief that all are trustees
of God's creation and therefore must seek make it a better place than it was
before. This endeavor cost around 30 million USD and has since then become a
harbinger for case studies to solve the challenges of historic cities.
The western side of AL- Azhar Park in Egypt is the old Fatimid city and its
extension Darb Al Ahmarthat has wealth of mosques, madrasas and mausolea. One
can find on the South of the park Sultan Hassan Mosque and the Ayyubid Citadel.
To the eastern side is the City of the Dead where people live with the cenotaphs.
While clearing the 500-year-old debris for the park several discoveries were
also made. Here one may recall the discovery of the 12th century Ayyubid city
wall of Cairo built during the reign of Salah el-Din. Stones with hieroglyphic
texts some measuring as much as one meter long that was used to construct the
Salah el-Din's wall. In order to reach to the wall it became necessary excavate
to a depth of 15 meters. Here one would find 1.5-kilometre section of the historic
wall, with several towers and battlements well preserved.
The Al- Azhar Park is the largest green area created in Cairo in over a century
thus helped checking a trend where the development had paid less attention to
the city's once famous parks. In the Al- Azhar Park in Cairo there are 325 varieties
of plants and most of them are native grown in the nursery. In the park there
are three fresh water reservoirs for the city. Here there are shaded walkways,
play area for the children, museum, hill top restaurant and café near
the lake.
|
