Al-Wayli is a district in the Western Area of Cairo, Egypt.[1] According to the district map (below), and the census,[2] it is subdivided into the qisms (police wards) of al-Wayli and el-Daher, or al-Zahir (Arabic: الظاهر, IPA: [edˈdɑːheɾ, ezˈzˤɑːheɾ]). Some of their better known quarters are Sakakini and Abbassia.
The area of al-Zahir was known as the Square of Qaraqush, where it was used as polo grounds by the 12th Century Ayyubid regent Qaraqush, north west of Cairo's walls.[3] After the conquest of Cairo by the Mamluks, the new sultan al-Zahir Baybars built his eponymous mosque over the polo grounds in 1268.[3]
Until the mid 19th Century, the area north of the mosque was the rural fringe of Cairo, consisting of the villages of El-Waylia, El-Demerdash, El-Mohamady and the Kobba palace izba (hamlet).[4]
In 1849, Egypt's ruler, Abbass Pasha I, redeveloped the area into the Abbasia neighbourhood.[4] However, by the late 19th Century the area was sparsely developed, where the contractor and real estate developer Sakakini Pasha bought a parcel of "swampy mosquito infested" land immediately north of al-Zahir mosque, and built a radial grid development in 1897, with his circular palace placed in the middle of the grid.[5] This area is known today as the Sakakini quarter (shiakha) in qism al-Zahir.
Al-Wayli district is divided into the qisms of al-Zahir and al-Wayli according to the Cairo Governorate district map and the census.[2]
In 2017 qism al-Wayli had 79,292 residents in its 12 shiakhas.[2]
While qism Al-Zahir had 71,870 residents in its six shiakhas in 2017.[2]
30°04′27″N 31°16′12″E / 30.07417°N 31.27000°E / 30.07417; 31.27000