Looking at Cairo from the top of Sultan Qaitbey’s minaret one can easily appreciate the extraordinary richness of the city’s mediaeval heritage, and how the domes, minarets and crenellations of Mamluk buildings to a large extent still define the skyline of the city. Also visible is how close and ever-closer the modern megalopolis creeps towards the dusty, wind-swept streets of the cemetery, where life still proceeds at a different pace than the frenzied activities of the city.