The southern sector of the city is divisible into three main areas, the most interesting of which is Old Cairo ( Masr al-Qadima), the historic link between Egypt's pharaonic and Islamic civilizations. Here, the fortress-town of Babylon , where the Holy Family is thought to have taken refuge, developed into a powerhouse of native Christianity which today remains the heart of Cairo's Coptic community . Featuring several medieval churches, the superb Coptic Museum and an atmospheric synagogue, it totally eclipses the site of Fustat - Egypt's first Islamic settlement, of which little remains but the much-altered Mosque of Amr - or the largely uninteresting southern suburbs of Ma'adi and Helwan.

 

Connected by bridge to Old Cairo - and so covered in this section, too - is Roda Island , which boasts a venerable Nilometer and the wonderfully kitsch Manial Palace. The Nilometer is best visited in combination with Coptic Cairo, but the palace is more easily accessible from central Cairo.