By Bob Van Leer

  (CAIRO, EGYPT, Friday, Feb. 3, 2006) - Today we visited the Mohammed Ali mosque and The Citadel, two landmarks of what you might call "modern Cairo". Mohammed Ali is regarded as the founder of modern Egypt.

  He was a soldier in troops sent to Egypt by the Turkish Ottoman Empire to free the country from Napoleon's occupation. Mohammed Ali could see the empire was crumbling and he decided to take over Egypt. He and his descendants ruled Egypt until 1952 when King Farouk was deposed in a coup. Mohammed Ali came to power in 1805. He was an Albanian. The mosque is on a hill and visible from much of Cairo. It is quite large with a minaret 240 feet high and the main dome 150 feet high. It is built of limestone with white marble facing. Construction began in 1830 but was not complete until 1857.

   We were welcomed inside the mosque as long as no services are underway. The mosque is carpeted and shoes have to be removed. The only country we have found where mosques are not open to all is Morocco.

  The mosque adjoins The Citadel which is a monument to medieval warfare. It was built by Turkish sultan Saladin, who defeated the crusaders. It was built between 1183 and 1186 to protect the area from attacks by crusaders. Subsequent rulers up to British days enlarged and added to the fort.

  The balance of the tour was "old Cairo", starting with another visit to Khan el-Khalili. This time we were directed down another main street. Our guide didn't know the size of el-Khalili, but estimated it was over a hundred acres. Cairo has been capital of Egypt since the 10th century, but our guide said it dates to he beginning of time.

  In old Cairo construction projects are underway to protect old buildings from a rising water table. Our guide said the rise is caused by the Aswan Dam upriver.

  Next stop was the Hanging Church built in the 3rd or 4th century which derives its name from its location on top of the southern tower gate of the old Babylon fortress with its nave suspended above the passage. On the same site is St. Sergius church, another 4th century church dedicated to two martyrs and supposedly built on the spot where the Holy Family rested at the end of their journey into Egypt. Most Egyptian Christians are members of the Coptic faith which split from Rome and has its own pope.

  Also on the site is the Ben Ezer Jewish synagogue, originally a Coptic Church but sold to the Jews. It is the oldest synagogue in Egypt and mostly ceremonial as there are few Jews left in Egypt.

  In the evening we had dinner in a restaurant in the hotel and were serenaded by an Egyptian band with strange, but pleasant music. At one point the band got up and paraded out. We followed them and the band became part of a rollicking wedding reception complete with more music and dancing.

  Available at most restaurants are water pipes called, as near as I can tell, sheesha. At the Hilton for a fee of 14 pounds, about $2.00, you can get use of a pipe and a quantity of flavored tobacco. A special waiter brings the pipe, adds a new plastic mouthpiece and starts it burning with lit charcoal. All over the restaurant people, including women, are puffing away. I passed on this one.

  Tomorrow we are to leave on a flight 434 miles south to Aswan where we will board a Nile cruise boat. It has been an interesting stay in Cairo. Our room at the Ramses Hilton faces the Nile and even has a small balcony. We are on the seventh floor and the view is great.

  This hotel is a real crossroads. When you get on an elevator the other passengers may be Egyptians in suits, Arabs in traditional dress, Indians, black Africans, Orientals and even some Europeans and Americans.

  The only protests in the Muslim world now are against Danes in particular and most Europeans for some cartoons published in a Danish newspaper and later in other European papers that Muslims think are blasphemous. It really shows the gulf between Muslim cultures and the west. The Muslins simply cannot understand freedom of the press and think the government and the whole country are responsible. Danish products are being pulled from shelves all over the Muslim world.

  One observation of Egypt is that most women now have covered heads in public, some with the complete dress including covering their faces. When I was here last in 1999, as best I can remember, most of the women were uncovered.