Khan el-Khalili
The Khan el-Khalili ( Arabic خان الخليلي Chan al- Khalili , DMG Ḫān al-Ḫalīlī , often in English translation Khan el-Khalili ) is a souq / bazaar in the old town of Cairo .
The market to the west of the Saiyidna el-Husain mosque is considered the largest in Africa and was founded in the 14th century on the site of a former Mamluk cemetery as a caravanserai and trading center. The name goes back to its builder Emir Jarkas al-Chalili, who came from Hebron (Arabic name al-Chalil ) and therefore bore the name al-Chalili.
history
At the current location of the Khan el-Khalili there was originally a mausoleum, the Turbat az-zaʿfarān (saffron tomb), from the time of the Fatimid caliphs . The mausoleum was part of a large palace complex under the city founder Jawhar as-Siqillī .
Under the Circassian Mamluks of the Burjiyya dynasty , Egypt swung into brisk trade at the end of the 14th century. During the first reign of the Sultan Barquq, Emir Jarkas al-Khalili destroyed the Fatimid mausoleum and the entire cemetery and built a caravanserai (Arabicخان, DMG ḫān ). From the original three central entrances to the Chan, a gate has survived to this day, the Bab al-Ghuri , also known as Bab al-Badistan (Turkish for cotton or linen). With the establishment of the Chan el-Khalili in the already most important trading center of the city, further mercantile forums settled under later sultans, such as the Kait-Bay-Wikala (caravanserai) , south of the al-Azhar mosque , or the Wikala des al- Ashraf Qansuh (II.) Al-Ghuri .
During the 15th century, the Chan el-Chalili established itself as a transshipment point for valuable stones and a lively slave trade. Later, during the Ottoman rule , the market was better known as the "Turkish bazaar". This term is sometimes still used today. You can still guess the former splendor of the old trading houses.
The Chan el-Chalili has an enormous variety of small alleys, shops, coffee houses and squares. Although it is mainly occupied by Egyptian merchants and shopkeepers, foreign traders are on the rise, which shows that business activities are geared towards tourism in the city. Mostly souvenirs, antiques and jewelry are on display, but there are still many traditional craft shops. In many places the Egyptian water pipe ( shisha ) is smoked in the souq and Arabic coffee is smoked in small café-rooms (مقهى maqhā ) is enough. The vastness of the Chan el-Chalili is impressive in the ensemble.
Terrorist attacks
Targeted terrorist attacks were carried out on the market in April 2005 (suicide attack) and February 2009. There were numerous injuries and 21 people were killed in 2005; In 2009, a French minor died. As a result, visits to the bazaar have since decreased significantly, especially since a terrorist attack had never been carried out on a bazaar before.
Chan el-Khalili in literature
The writer and Nobel Prize laureate Nagib Mahfuz let his novella Die Midaq-Gasse (زقاق المدق Zuqāq al-Midaqq ) in Midaq Alley in the souq .
The novella The Confusion (2004) from the Baroque cycle by the inventor of the concept of Avatar , Neal Stephenson , plays with several key scenes in a caravanserai in the souk.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Y. Lev, Aspects of the Egyptian Society in the Fatimid Period ; in Urbain Vermeulen, J. van Steenbergen (eds.). Egypt and Syria in the Fatimid, Ayyubid, and Mamluk Eras III: Proceedings of the 6th, 7th and 8th International Colloquium Organized at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven in May 1997, 1998, and 1999. Peeters Publishers. P. 20.
- ↑ Khan al-Khalili, also known as: Bab al-Ghuri or Bab al-Badistan
- ^ André Raymond, Le Caire Fayard
- ^ Museum with no frontiers / Discover Islamic Art, Khan al-Khallili, last accessed on July 27, 2014
- ^ Caroline Williams, Islamic Monuments in Cairo: The Practical Guide. , Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 6th edition, 2008
- ↑ Khan el-Khalili last accessed on July 27, 2014
- ↑ Naguib Mahfouz, “Midaq Alley” (A Book Review by Louis Proyect). Retrieved July 27, 2014
- ↑ Pirates! Calculus! Banking! Alchemy! accessed on July 27, 2014
Coordinates: 30 ° 2 ′ 51 ″ N , 31 ° 15 ′ 44 ″ E