A discovery into Egypt
There are many touristic sites in Cairo that are, unfortunately not known by the Egyptians although they are wonderful and important ones. Without talking about the causes of this lack of knowledge, let me expose some of the monuments I’ve visited during my vacation in Egypt.
Sabil om Abbas
Om Abbas....that gives you the impression that she is om abbas el ghassala..but no, she is the Turkish Princess Bambah Qadin, the mother of Khedive Abbas I who ruled Egypt from 1848 to 1854 AD. Sabil om abbas is ottoman and was bluit in 1867 . It is situated in the Saliba street, al Sayeda Zeinab where many other monuments are located such as sabil Qaytbay, beit el kritleya and ibn Tolon mosque.
A sabil is a building that served to provide people with water that’s why sobol are usually located in main places or streets, and in most cases were surmounted with kuttab (qur’anic school)
Sabil om Abbes has an entrance leading to the fountain chamber where a well exists (until nowadays) and to the staircase of the upper floor. The upper floor rooms are occupied by a community service organization.
Other than Om Abbes, there is Sabil nafisa alBayda, an ottoman sabil that dates back to the year of 1796 and is located in the Sukkareya street. Nafisa al-Bayda was a slave and then was married to the wealthy Murad Bey who was at first a Mamluk, and then later rose to power in 1784 and became the leader of the resistance against the Napoleon Bonaparte invasion.http://touregypt.net/featurestories/sabilkuttab.htm
Some sabils date from the 14th century such as Sabil of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qala'un (one of the earliest) that dates from 1326,Sabil of Amir Shaykhu al-'Imari (a mamluk) since 1354 and others .For more info u can check:http://archnet.org/library/images/sites.tcl?key=sabil&collection_id=-1&select=usage

Ebtasem anta fi Masr
Di 7etta men el sabil
NDP!
ana nefesi 2a3raf eih elli dakhal el 7ezb el watani el dimocraty 3and sabil Om 3abas..

el she2 el gharib enn el ard gowwa metghateyya kolaha torab.. wel ragel eli 2a3ed allena enn el rokham el ardeyya nader gedan welli na7et el sowar el qur2aneya 3ala madkhal el sabil howa nafso elli katab fel masged al nabawi (tab3an mafish brochure lel sabil..fa masdarna howa el ragel). Wamma sa2alna momken netla3 fo2 allena momken bass wezaret el thafaqa 7atta nass beyeshtaghalo anwal yadaweyya (dih el community service elli fel description)...we ablaha kano albin el sabil Madrasa 2e3dadayya.....!!



Ahmad Ibn tulun mosque
Ahmad ibn Ţulun (220 - 270 AH/835 - 884 AD) was the founder of the tulunid dynasty that ruled Egypt between 868 and 905 AD. Originally sent by the Abbassid caliph as governor to Egypt, ibn tulun established himself as an independent ruler. In Egypt, ibn Ţulun found that the existing capital, al-Fustat, founded by Amr ibn al 3as in 641, was too small to accommodate his armies. He founded a new city to serve as his capital, Madinat al-Qatta2i3 and built his mosque in 819.

The mosque is distinguished by the external staircase that winds around the minaret. If u look at Egyptian five pounds, you will see the picture of the two minarets and the Qubba.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ahmad_ibn_Tulun

This is a picture I took from the top of the minaret.It has no relation with the mosque, but the contrast between the general landscape (poor buildings) and the white roof wih arabesq windows is so flagrant