Zamalek Island: The Green Heart of Modern Cairo

In 1830, Muhammad Ali Pasha built an enormous palace dedicated to picnics and relaxation in the north of the island of Zamalek. Around the palace, he built nests and wooden huts for the entourage to settle. Hence, the island was called Zamalek; Because Zamalek is an Albanian word that means nests made of wood or reeds. And in other sayings, they say that the name’s secret goes back to the Zamalek flower, which used to grow abundantly on the island.

The Zamalek area, west of Cairo, is one of the best residential areas in the capital, as it overlooks the Nile. Still, a hundred years ago, it might not have been fascinated by it, used by hunters, in addition to being filled with foxes.

The Cairo Governorate shed light on the history of the region’s emergence and how it turned from the nests’ area to the area of ​​villas, palaces, and the residences of princes and the rich. In which.

The Turks called the area Zamalek, a Turkish word that means nest. In the days, the Egyptians used the translation. They ignored the original then, a citizen of Upper Egypt named Abdel Naim Muhammadin came from his town of Qena in 1897 and bought a large plot of land in the nest area at a price of no more than two and a half piasters per meter and then began to reclaim The land until he made it suitable for cultivation and cleansed it from predators. The cultivation succeeded, and the land grew. 

Abdel Naim sent farmers from Qena to help him in his successful project until his relatives and municipalities in the Zamalek area got more than one thousand five hundred, so he bought the rest of the area to purify and invest it, and he was chosen as mayor. It was green, and the facilities spread throughout its territory, and it became a place for the rich fleeing from the noise of the city. Abdel Naim ceded his kingdom to his son Asran, who with time left the verticality to his two sons Fahmy and Hosni, who divided the area into two parts. Each of them chose a section that he supervises and inspects daily by himself. He roams inside his luxury car.

Khedive Ismail had previously chosen a place on the outskirts of Zamalek and established a palace there in 1869 to receive foreign guests for the opening ceremony of the Suez Canal. After ten years, the Gezira Saray turned to the Gezira Hotel and then the Marriott Hotel in the Gezira area. Abdel Naim and his relatives reconstructed the entire neighborhood while That Khedive Ismail contented himself with reconstructing the tip of the island only. 

Thus, the Zamalek area became a residence for princes, dignitaries, and artists, including Princess Fayza, Prince Tousun Ibrahim, and Prince Said Toson, the richest of Egypt’s Ahmed Abboud Pasha, and the headquarters of the embassies of many countries. Zamalek moon name.

 And today still, Zamalek is one of the most luxurious suburbs in Cairo, with lots of costly real estate units, full of elite people who enjoy a comfortable life in this area which still contains: 

• Cairo tower 
• opera 
• Sofitel 
•   Orman garden 
• ‘Om kalthoum hotel 

In addition, magnificent palaces and houses are still in excellent condition, serving as embassies and consulates for different countries.