Sabil wa-Kuttab wa-Wakalat Jamal al-Din al-Dhahabi

Cairo, Egypt

"With a sabil-kuttab located to its left, this seventeenth-century wikala was a lively place that provided a number of basic services to merchants: spaces to store merchandise, living accomodations, and gathering places for brokers and their clients, money changers, and weighers of goods. A large metal-plated door (opposite the right or north end of al-Dhahabi's wikala) leads into the courtyard of one such commercial area. It is a pretty space with trees, and is still a lively place in which gold and silver jewelry continue to be produced. What remains standing to this day is not impressive; however, its interest lies in the fact that it was built by the same gold merchant whose house is near Bab Zuwayla."

Source:

Williams, Caroline. 2002. Islamic Monuments in Cairo: The Practical Guide. Cairo: American University in Cairo Press, 162.