Islamic Cairo: al-Mu'izz Street, the Citadel and the city of a thousand minarets

The spine of the Fatimid city, laid out in the tenth century between two of its gates, Bab al-Futuh in the north and Bab Zuwayla in the south. The Ministry counts twenty-nine monuments along it, from the tenth to the nineteenth century. It is part of Historic Cairo, on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1979. Read the full story of the street.

• Qalawun's complex: his madrasa and domed tomb chamber in Bayn al-Qasrayn, "between the two palaces".
• The Mosque of al-Aqmar: the "moonlit" mosque of 1125, one of the few Fatimid buildings to survive more or less intact.
• Bab al-Futuh: look for blocks from pharaonic Memphis built into the gate, some still carved.

Salah al-Din ordered the Citadel built in 1176, on a spur of the Muqattam hills, and Egypt's rulers lived there until the mid-nineteenth century. Inside its walls stand three mosques from three eras and several museums. The Muhammad Ali Mosque, built in 1848, crowns it: the Ministry gives its two minarets as 84 m each, the tallest in Egypt. In the court stands a clock given by Louis-Philippe of France in exchange for one of Luxor Temple's obelisks, now in the Place de la Concorde.

• Dress: shoulders and knees covered for the mosques, and shoes off at the door; women may want a scarf.
• Timing, in our judgement: the street in the morning while the interiors are open, the Citadel after lunch.