The only one of its kind in the Middle East, this interesting museum features textiles from ancient Egypt and the Roman, Coptic and Islamic eras. The collection starts at the very beginning, with Pharaonic diapers, and moves on through beautifully embroidered Coptic tunics and great embroidered qiswat (the panels that adorn the Kaaba in Mecca). It’s a small museum, but well worth a peek for anyone with an affinity for weaving and fabric.
Egyptian Textile Museum
Cairo
Lonely Planet's must-see attractions
9.17 MILES
The last remaining wonder of the ancient world; for nearly 4000 years, the extraordinary shape, impeccable geometry and sheer bulk of the Giza Pyramids…
1.68 MILES
One of the world’s most important collections of ancient artefacts, the Egyptian Museum takes pride of place in Downtown Cairo, on the north side of Midan…
12.68 MILES
Covering a 7km stretch of the Western Desert, Saqqara, the huge cemetery of ancient Memphis, was an active burial ground for more than 3500 years and is…
0.73 MILES
With funds from the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, what had been a mountain of garbage, amassed over centuries, was in 2005, almost miraculously, transformed…
0.3 MILES
Founded in AD 970 as the centrepiece of the newly created Fatimid city, Al Azhar is one of Cairo’s earlier mosques, and its sheikh is considered the…
0.24 MILES
Sharia Al Muizz, as it’s usually called, named after the Fatimid caliph who conquered Cairo in AD 969, was Cairo's grand thoroughfare, once chock-a-block…
3.56 MILES
This museum, founded in 1908, houses Coptic art from the earliest days of Christianity in Egypt right through to early Islam. It is a beautiful place, as…
2.37 MILES
After a years'-long restoration period, this palace complex, built by the uncle of King Farouk, Prince Mohammed Ali, in the early 20th century, has once…
Nearby Cairo attractions
1. Madrassa & Mausoleum of Barquq
0.02 MILES
Sultan Barquq seized power in 1382, when Egypt was reeling from plague and famine; his Sufi school was completed four years later. Enter through the bold…
2. Madrassa & Mausoleum of An Nasir Mohammed
0.03 MILES
Sultan An Nasir (‘the Victor’), was both despotic and exceedingly accomplished. His madrassa was built in 1304 in part with a Gothic doorway An Nasir…
0.03 MILES
One of the few well restored examples of Cairo's once vibrant hammam (bathhouse) culture, the Hammam Inal dates from 1456. The marble-clad central room is…
0.04 MILES
At the Sabil-Kuttab of Kathkuda, take the little alleyway that leads to Qasr Beshtak (Palace of Amir Beshtak), a rare example of 14th-century domestic…
5. Sabil-Kuttab of Abdel Rahman Katkhuda
0.04 MILES
The Sabil-Kuttab of Abdel Rahman Katkhuda is one of the iconic structures of Islamic Cairo, depicted in scores of paintings and lithographs. Building this…
0.05 MILES
The section of Sharia Al Muizz north of Khan Al Khalili’s gold district is called Bein Al Qasreen (Palace Walk), a reminder of the Fatimid-era palace…
7. Madrassa & Mausoleum of Qalaun
0.07 MILES
Built in just 13 months, the 1279 Madrassa and Mausoleum of Qalaun is both the earliest and the most splendid of the vast religious complexes on this…
8. Madrassa & Mausoleum of As Salih Ayyub
0.08 MILES
This complex was built between 1242 and 1244 by the last Ayyubid sultan of Egypt, Al Salih Najm Al Din Ayyub, who died defending Egypt against the…