Reed huts, a Belgian baron and a Khedive’s Paris: how Cairo’s districts got their names
Zamalek, Heliopolis and Downtown are names Cairenes say every day. Each carries a story.
Every Cairo district has a story, and some of the most familiar names hide the most surprising ones.
Zamalek
The island neighbourhood’s name is usually traced to the reed huts, zamalik in Ottoman Turkish, that once stood on the Nile island before it was developed into a district of villas and palaces in the late 19th century.
Heliopolis
Heliopolis, or Masr El Gedida, was founded in the early 20th century by the Belgian industrialist Baron Édouard Empain as a garden city in the desert north-east of Cairo. His Hindu-inspired palace still stands on what is now El Orouba Street.
Downtown
Downtown, Wust El Balad, was the dream of Khedive Ismail, who in the 1860s set out to build a modern European-style quarter, inspired by Haussmann’s Paris, on the edge of the old city.
Which story surprised you?
