Restoration carried out at the Sitt Wassila House in mediaeval Cairo has revealed the sumptuousness of Ottoman architecture. Nevine El-Aref admires a newly uncovered fresco.

The Sitt Wassila House -- Beit Al-Sitt Wassila, which adjoins the Beit Al-Harrawi in the Al-Azhar heart of Islamic Cairo -- sports an elegant façade embellished with mashrabiya (Islamic woodwork) and a huge, decorated wooden door.   This 17th- century edifice, named in 1836 after its owner, was built by Sheikh Abdel-Haq and his brother Lotfi in 1664 (1074 H)...

[More]   Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 730, 17 - 23 February 2005.