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  • 21 Aug, 2019

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Rawda Island
Roda Island (or Rawdah Island, Arabic: جزيرة الروضة, Jazīrat ar-Rawdah  [ɡɪˈziːɾɪt eɾˈɾoːdɑ]) is an island neighbourhood in the Nile in central Cairo, alternatively or partially known as Manial al-Roda, or al-Manial, in reference to the main village that existed on the island before it was urbanised, and is part of the Misr al-Qadima district.

History

The island was known in Antiquity as Babylonian Island (Ancient Greek: Νῆσος Βαβυλῶνος), referring to the Babylon Fortress.

During the reign of caliph Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd al-Malik of the Umayyad dynasty, a nilometer was built on the southern tip of the island opposite the mouth of the Khalij canal in AD 715 to measure the annual Nile flood. The structure was replaced in AD 861, during the reign of the Abbasid caliph al-Mutawakkil, overseen by the astronomer Alfraganus, and despite a number of modifications, is still extant today and known as the Roda Island Nilometer.

The Ayyubid Sultan as-Salih Ayyub (Reigned 1240 to 1249, great-nephew of Saladin) built a palace at the southern tip of the island near the nilometer.

The mamluk Bahri dynasty originally settled on Roda Island at the palace. The name of the dynasty, "Bahriyya", means 'of the river', referring to their original settlement on the island on the Nile.

The Bostan al-Kebir (Great Gardens) started to be planned and grown on the island in 1829 by Viceroy Ibrahim Pasha, of the Muhammad Ali Dynasty. In 1851 the Manasterly Palace, also known as the Kiosk was built on the island's southern tip on the ruins of the Ayyubid palace for Hassan Fouad Pasha Al-Manasterly, Katkhoda of Egypt during the reign of Abbas I. Later in the early 20th Century the Prince Muhammad Ali Palace was built in the island's mid-north.

Today, the island is a bustling neighbourhood of Cairo.

  • Northern tip
    Northern tip
  • c.1800 map of Roda Island
    c.1800 map of Roda Island
  • Wooden bridge near the Nilometer
    Wooden bridge near the Nilometer
  • The Roda Island Nilometer, and island in the Nile
    The Roda Island Nilometer, and island in the Nile
  • The Manasterly Palace
    The Manasterly Palace

References

  1. ^ "Manial Al-Roda: Birdsong and the call to prayer - Features - Al-Ahram Weekly". Ahram Online. Retrieved 2023-02-19.
  2. ^ Egyptian Survey Department (1915). "Map of Cairo". Al-Madaq. Retrieved 2023-02-19.
  3. ^ Maspero, Jean; Wiet, Gaston (1919). "Materiaux pour servir à la Géographie de l'Égypte". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 53 (4): 68.
  4. ^ Brian Fagan (1 August 2010). The Great Warming: Climate Change and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 167. ISBN 978-1-59691-780-4.
  5. ^ Ibn ʿAsākir. Tārīkh Madīnat Dimashq. pp. 8:84.
  6. ^ Doris Behrens-Abouseif (1992). Islamic Architecture in Cairo: An Introduction. BRILL. p. 51. ISBN 90-04-09626-4.
  7. ^ "Rawda Island Nilometer". egymonuments.gov.eg. Retrieved 2023-02-19.
  8. ^ "A Virtual Tour through Al-Manasterly palace and the Nilometer". egymonuments.gov.eg. Retrieved 2023-02-19.
  9. ^ Al-Maqrizi, p.405/vol. 1
  10. ^ Rafaat, Samir (1997-11-27). "Prince Mohammed Ali Tewfik Manial Retreat". www.egy.com. Retrieved 2023-02-19.
  11. ^ "Manial Palace Museum". egymonuments.gov.eg. Retrieved 2023-02-19.

Media related to Rhoda Island at Wikimedia Commons


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