ANDERSON GAY HOUSE

The complex, located at the southeast corner of the Ibn Touloun mosque, consists of two attached houses. A private street separates them on the first floor, but the upper floors communicate with each other. These ^17th-century houses were converted in the ^19th century by the English major Gayer Anderson, who had a strong taste for orientalism.

The tour begins in the house on the left. On the right is the restored shower room, below which is the cistern; the well is concealed by a wooden cabinet that the guide will have fun turning in front of you. The inner courtyard is paved with marble; the central fountain must have lulled the house with soft water music. A staircase leads to the summer terrace, which faces north to avoid the sun's harmful rays. It leads to a handsome salon that must have been the salamlek, the men's parlor, in which Gayer Anderson collected some very fine objects and silver trays. On the upper floors is the British dining room, a veritable museum of curiosities. The upper terrace features numerous moucharabiehs overlooking the Ibn Touloun mosque.

Leaving the cabinet of curiosities, you enter the second house, more interesting for its oriental furnishings. A room with a daybed, where the master of the house liked to lounge, begins this section, followed by another raised room in the middle of which a bed of Syrian origin has been placed. Descending again, we reach the upper part of the main salon. A gallery enclosed by moucharabiehs allowed women to take part in conversations without being watched; a small secret loggia is hidden behind a corner shelf. Also on this floor is a salon for women, with rare furnishings, including painted wooden cupboards depicting scenes of love or hunting. Descend to the first floor and enter the marble-paved men's salon, featuring a stepped fountain. Look up and you'll see not only the wooden coffered ceiling, but also the moucharabiehs behind which the women hid. You arrive in the courtyard of the second house, where the outbuildings have been converted into a small museum of unusual objects. We exit through the opposite door, into the private street, delighted to have shared the imaginary daily life of a ^17th-century Cairo townhouse. Numerous superb collectors' items from several countries, including ancient Egypt, punctuate the visit.