Droob Heritage Tour

In Arabic and specifically in architecture, Doroob (the plural of Darb) referred to the main spine of a neighbourhood before the creation of the term “street”. Historic Cairo especially has a unique, organic texture. We will unravel many alleys along our path starting with Darb El Labana. Darb El Labana was considered our Egyptian Montmartre as it was an attraction for countless prominent artists and was what inspired many of their masterpieces. Those artists include Hassan Fathy, Youssef Kamel, Ragheb Ayyad, Shadi Abdel Salam, Mohamed Naghi, etc.

We will explore the visual and artistic heritage of this side of Cairo and walk beside numerous historical sites while exploring many artistic clusters in the area. We will also walk along many of the landmarks found on the Egyptian pound.

Cairo, like any medieval city, was surrounded by walls and gates. Behind these walls, there were main pillars that surrounded more alleys, doors, and stories that happened between them. In this tour, we will walk between Al-Hara, Al-‘Atfa, Al-Zuqaq, and, of course, the alleys, which are all part of the unique, organic fabric of our great historical Cairo and which we will explain in detail.

Not only that, but we will also get to know and see all the major international and local movies that took place in this neighborhood to immerse ourselves in the various historical eras such as the Fatimid, Mamluk, and even the present era.

Our collaboration with El Qalam is a highlight of this tour. El Qalam is one of the prominent organizations that aim to promote and modernize an important intangible heritage: Arabic calligraphy.