Gezira or Al-Gezira means Island in Arabic, located in the Nile River in central Cairo. The southern part of the island is called Gezira whereas the northern part of it is Zamalek which is derived Turkish word which means Vineyard.
History
The Island was called “Jardin des Plantes” which means Garden of Plants because of its exclusive set of exotic plants brought from all corner of the world. On the east shore, a stall was built for island supervision the development of the island’s landscape project which was later replaced with Gezirah Palace. The palace was first used for guests of the opening of the Suez Canal such as Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria and Eugénie, Empress of the French. In today’s date, the Gezira Palace is the central part of the Cairo Marriott Hotel, with an open-air theatre in the rooftop overlooking the Nile.
Many other palaces were built after that including Prince Sa’id Toussoun’s palace, now used as a branch of the Council of Ministers and Prince Amr Ibrahim’s palace which is now the Museum of Islamic Ceramics.
Features
Gezira along with Zamalek comes with too many attractions that to list them all doesn’t seem feasible. But some attractions can’t be ignored such as:
- Cairo Tower: The shining star in the southern part of the island is the most iconic structure of Egypt after Pyramids. The tower ranks as 4th tallest structure consisting of 8 million mosaic pastilles with a rotating restaurant at the top is a sight to behold. For details, see Cairo Tower.
- Cairo Opera House: The prime performing arts venue has its own story to tell. The Royal House has 2 halls that can accommodate up to 1300 and 500 people simultaneously along with an outdoor theatre that performs almost every night.
- Qasr El Nil Bridge and 6th October Bridge: The infamous bridges are connecting link that joins East bank of Cairo to Gezira’s Zamalek district. The island is connected to Cairo and Giza on both sides with each side having with 3 bridges.
- Museum Of Modern Egyptian Art and Museum of Islamic Ceramics: Museum of Modern Egyptian Art named as Gezira Centre of Modern Arts is the National Cultural Centre along with Cairo Opera house whereas Museum of Islamic Ceramics resides within the Prince Amr Ibrahim Palace and is one of the astounding museums that beats with love of Egypt in core. For more, see Cairo Museums..
- Khan al Maghraby, Picasso Art Gallery, Safar Khan Gallery and Zamalek Art Gallery: Apart from those 2 utterly enthralling museums, Gezira has a no. of galleries that keep the abuzz going. See more in Cairo Museum.
- Gezira Gardens, the Marriott Gardens, the Aquarium Grotto Garden and Andalusia Garden: The greenery cultivated and designed to make full use of Nile and bring a little piece of heaven in the chaotic and golden city of Cairo. Read more about them in Cairo Parks..
- El Sawy Cultural wheel: The cultural centre is known for the various activities, concerts, festivals and so on. The centre includes a puppet theatre, radio magazine and whatnot.
- Gezira Sporting Club, Ahly Sporting Club and Cairo Sporting Club not to mention Gezira Golf Club, Gezira Table Tennis and so on…
The list goes on and on. The restaurants and cafes, not to mention the royal houses built here have their own charm to add in the hot pot of Cairo attractions. NILE HOLIDAY loves to show you the absolute best of Cairo and Gezira. Call us to book for an unforgettable holiday..
