Gayer-Anderson Museum

Lonely Planet review

The quirky Gayer-Anderson Museum gets its current name from a British major, John Gayer-Anderson, an army doctor who restored and furnished the two adjoining 16th-century houses between 1935 and 1942, filling them with antiquities, artworks and Oriental artefacts acquired on his travels in the region. The houses and their contents were bequeathed by Gayer-Anderson to Egypt (he died in 1945) and have been lovingly restored by a British mission.

The puzzle of rooms is decorated in a variety of styles: the Persian room has exquisite tiling, the Damascus room has lacquer and gold, and the Queen Ann Room has ornate furniture and a silver tea set. The enchanting mashrabiyya gallery looks down onto a magnificent qa'a which has a central marble fountain, decorated ceiling beams and carpet-covered alcoves. The rooftop terrace has been lovingly restored and features a visually arresting display of mashrabiyya screens. When you enter, you may find the houses familiar - the museum was used as a location in the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me .