Khan el-Khalili

Khan el-Khalili is a famous bazaar and souq in the historic center of Cairo, Egypt. Established as a center of trade in the Mamluk era and named for one of its several historic caravanserais, the bazaar district has since become one of Cairo's main attractions for tourists and Egyptians alike. It is also home to many Egyptian artisans and workshops involved in the production of traditional crafts and souvenirs. Over many years, space along the Qasaba avenue steadily narrowed as new constructions encroached on it and open spaces disappeared. As the main street became saturated with shops and space for further development there ran out, new commercial structures were instead built further east, close to al-Azhar Mosque and to the shrine of al-Hussein, where some space was still available. Instead of hosting mobile market stalls that were assembled in open spaces, the city's souq areas were progressively replaced by fixed stone structures with built-in spaces for individual shops. This was partly a consequence of the authorities wishing to impose greater control on commercial activities: fixed structures could be counted, taxed, and regulated more easily than makeshift market stalls that could come and go. As the city became denser and space ran out, builders preferred to build multi-storied structures known as a khan a type of caravanserai (inns for merchants). These types of buildings were centered around an inner peristyle courtyard where merchants could store their goods, while the upper levels were used as living quarters. Their street facades typically had spaces for shops at ground level. In this way, a commercial zone could extend around and between multiple khans. By the time of Sultan Barquq , the first Burji Mamluk sultan, Egypt had been significantly affected by the ravages of the Black Death but continued to be the center of great economic activity, with many commercial and religious buildings still being constructed at this time. 147  During Barquq's first reign (1382–1389) his Master of the Stables (amir akhur), Jaharkas al-Khalili, demolished the Fatimid mausoleum (Turbat az-Za'faraan) to erect a large khan at the heart of the city. The khan became known as Khan al-Khalili, after his name. The name eventually came to denote the entire district. Al-Khalili reportedly disposed of the bones of the Fatimid royal family by throwing them into the rubbish hills east of the city. Later Mamluk elites also built commercial structures in the vicinity and beyond. In Sultan Qaytbay's time one of his amirs, Yashbak min Mahdi, built the Rab' al-Badistan, an apartment complex for renters, just across from the Khan al-Khalili. Qaytbay himself built the Wikala of Sultan Qaytbay further east, near al-Azhar Mosque. By the late 15th century, the district around Khan el-Khalili had become the major center of foreign trade, including the sale of slaves and precious stones.