4 - 10 October 2001
Issue No.554
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 4 - 10 October 2001 Issue No.554 |
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Erstwhile considerations
Not only in quest of smoother traffic was Al-Azhar Tunnel constructed. Nevine El-Aref and Rehab Saad resurrect the battles for archaeological integrity and tourism concerns
While the building of Al-Azhar Tunnel will hopefully ease traffic buildup that clogs the area, the undertaking was conceived as part of a larger project to convert all of the area surrounding Al-Azhar into an open-air museum. In its early stages, the project came up against resistance from archaeological specialists, who feared that construction would affect the historic monuments, and tourism officials, who felt their input could have been useful.
Development and refurbishments around Al-Azhar have been ongoing for some six years now, with many a historic mosque, beit (house), sabil (water fountain) and madrasa (school) getting a thorough facelift. Some workshops and bazaars have been cleaned and polished as well, as part of efforts to spruce up the area.
Archaeologists originally cited concerns over the long-term effects of the tunnel, saying that vibrations caused by hundreds of cars passing through it daily would eventually erode the fragile ground on which the area's monuments stand, ultimately threatening collapse. Despite the Ministry of Tourism's intimate dealings with the monuments -- as well as its obvious stake in their conservation -- it has never been consulted on the project.
Surprisingly, the ministry was never involved in the planning for Al-Azhar Tunnel, nor was it included in the subsequent replanning of the area, says Adel Radi, head of the Tourist Development Authority (TDA), an affiliate of the Ministry of Tourism. "The job was given in its entirety to the ministries of transportation and construction. We don't have any contribution," he said.
When work began on the tunnel, an age-old battle between urban development and historical conservation erupted. Antiquities officials, archaeological experts and municipal officials bickered over the plan until differences were narrowed enough to bring the tunnel into being. By connecting Salah Salem Street and Ataba and Opera Squares, the tunnel will free up the main streets of Al-Azhar and Al-Muizz, which will be turned into a pedestrian area.
The area's mediaeval sites have been encroached on before due to exponential growth within the city centre. The TDA's Radi explains, "When Al-Azhar Street was established in the 1920s, it divided mediaeval Cairo into two parts, northern and southern." He adds that the original planning of medieval Cairo depended on the existence of what is called a qasaba (a main commercial road), which used to extend from Bab Al-Fetouh and Bab Al-Nasr until Bab Zeweila. "This qasaba was divided into two parts when Al-Azhar Street was formed. Fences were put up and the qasaba had become two separate areas," he said.
Leaving traffic concerns aside, Radi notes that the only way the tunnel will be useful to the tourism industry is if it initiates a larger plan to once again unify the severed parts of the old city. By restricting cars from the area, Radi suggests a radical replanning of the area that would benefit tourism activities. "If the area is left without this kind of planning, however, then I believe the tunnel will not serve tourism in the area that much," he noted.
Though it had its critics, the tunnel has finally received some high-level sanction. Abdallah El- Attar, head of Islamic and Coptic antiquities department at the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), argues that the tunnel "is a very ambitious and progressive project, which does not threaten the archaeological zone the way some people think. On the contrary, it will relieve the traffic jams in the area, as well as help to preserve the Islamic monuments, which extend along both Al-Muezz and Al-Azhar Streets." El-Attar suggested that the 20-metre depth of the tunnel will decrease the intensity of both car vibrations and the emission of carbon dioxide in the air. Francisco Bandarine, head of the UNESCO's World Heritage Committee, also described the tunnel as a real blessing for Cairo's mediaeval city.
El-Attar stressed that by creating a pedestrian area, visitors will be able to enjoy Islamic architecture that spans the Fatimid period through to the Ottoman Turks at a leisurely stroll. Of course, how the visitors will actually get there is still not clear to tourist operators wondering where their tour buses are supposed to park. Security arrangements covering tourists making long-distance walks throughout the area still need to be seen to.
In the meantime, El-Attar, believes that all real threats to antiquities have been successfully dealt with. He pointed out that only at three points during the time of construction was there any danger. First, when the digging commenced at ground level; second, during the extensive digging work under the monuments; and finally, when workers unearthed the eastern part of Salaheddin El-Ayyubi's wall, with its four military towers. Construction was brought to a halt at this stage and it was decided that the multi-storey park planned for this area would be built further down the road.
Thankfully, the iron scaffoldings erected around such monuments as Abul-Dahab and Al-Ghuri complexes, Khan Al-Khorazati, the Al-Ashrafiya madrasa, Sabil Kossa Senan and mosques like Al- Kekhiya, Al-Qadi Yehia and Murad Basha remained a precautionary measure. There were even some pleasant surprises along the way. While digging, workers unearthed some clay artefacts that have since been put on display at the Islamic Museum in Bab Al-Khalq.
One problem that emerged was the ugly shape of the ventilation shafts installed in front of Al-Azhar mosque. In an attempt to solve this problem, all shafts have been covered with mashrabiya woodwork, although the effect is dubious.
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