During his reign, Khedive Ismail (r. 1863-1879) had dreamt to make downtown Cairo resemble the European countries that underwent remarkable progress in the field of architecture at that time. Accordingly, he paid great attention to architecture in the capital with the help of senior French and Italian architects to achieve his dream.
Foreign architects used their skills in constructing the dazzling buildings in terms of Ottoman, Mamluk, or Pharaonic heritage after they removed the hills of dust that surrounded Cairo for hundreds of years, and re-planned the streets.
Al-Alfy Street, located some 600 meters from Tahrir Square, is considered the most prestigious and beautiful street in the downtown. It is called Egypt’s “Champs-Elysées” due to the similarity of its design to the international French street that tourists have visited for decades.
The pedestrian-only street has wooden benches on both sides as well as a reading library. Trees were planted in its corners and there is a wonderful lighting system, not to mention the restaurants and cafes on its both sides.
This 135-meters long and 22-meters wide street was home to shops owned by craftsmen who were knitters, hairdressers, painters, makers of antiques and jewelery, and kneaders who made pies and sweets.
It was named after Mohamed Al-Alfy, the last Mamluk prince in Egypt. He survived the massacre of the Citadel made by Mohamed Ali to seize power. Al-Alfy was able to gain sufficient fame and status to qualify him as one of the competitors of the governor Mohamed Ali on the throne of Egypt.
Al-Alfy had a huge palace located on the side of the street. The palace was the marvel of its era, with its marble columns, windows of precious wood, antiques, and chandeliers that came as a gift from some of the richest people in Europe.
As soon as he finished building this palace, the French campaign against Egypt began (1798–1801), and he fled to Upper Egypt. French military commander and leader of the campaign Napoleon Bonaparte chose the Al-Alfy Palace as his residence throughout his stay in Egypt.
During the reign of Mohamed Ali (1805-1848) the palace was turned into Al-Alsun School. It was closed for many years until it burned down in the tragic Cairo Fire on January 26, 1952. This day also called “Black Saturday” witnessed the burning and looting of over 750 buildings in downtown Cairo as a result of the British attack on an Egyptian government building in Ismailia, a city in north-eastern Egypt,that killed over 50 Egyptian policemen. Such anti-British riots led to the Egyptian revolution in July of the same year that toppled the monarchy.
Among the most famous and oldest landmarks of Al-Alfy Street is the Alfi Bey Restaurant. It was originally called the old Printania Theatre, one of the largest theatres in Cairo, built in 1906.
The building was demolished in the 1930s and was replaced by the Alfy Bey Restaurant, which was a meeting place of pashas, beys and statesmen. The restaurant has maintained its splendor and elegance until now.
Above the restaurant is the Shahrazad nightclub, which was founded by the Egyptian artist Fathia Mahmoud (1913-1981). It is regarded as the most important artistic school from which graduated monologue artists, singers and dancers over many decades such as belly dancer and singer Badia Masabni (1892-1949), comedian Ismail Yassin (1912-1972), monologist Shokoko (1912-1985), singer Muhammad Rushdi (1928-2005), comedian actress Zeinat Sedki (1912-1978) as well as singer of Shaabi music Ahmed Adawiya (born in 1945) and dancer Nagwa Fouad (born in 1939).
There is also the Adas Building which was built by Egyptian-Jewish businessman Daoud Adas, one of the major Egyptian merchants at that time. The building was originally a theatre called Kursaal, which presented performances by Naguib el-Rihani (1889 - 1949), the Father of Comedy in Egypt and the East’s Charlie Chaplin. The Kursaal Theater also hosted a concert by diva Umm Kulthum in 1932.
Among the landmarks is also the Windsor Hotel, which was used in the beginning of the twentieth century as hammams for the royal family, and then turned into a club for notables.
This 3-star hotel was a favorite place for British officers during the occupation.
Among other landmarks in the street was Shepheard's Hotel. It was the leading hotel in Cairo from the mid-19th century until its destruction in 1952 during the Cairo Fire.
It was built in 1841 by Samuel Shepheard under the name "Hotel des Anglais" (the English Hotel). In 1957, the hotel was reconstructed and renamed Shepheard.
The hotel was featured in the English film The Camels are Coming in 1934.
