Few spots in Cairo can compare with the Aquarium Grotto garden in Zamalek as one of Cairo’s unique parks. A favourite picnic site for families, school children and young people, it is a haven for art students and amateur painters who often go there for the rich inspiration of the delightful landscape. It is also famous as a preferred spot for lovers, who find in its luscious greenery, charming grotto, and winding lanes the perfect setting for romance. Some of the loveliest and most tender scenes of Egyptian romantic cinema were filmed there.
Exotic
The Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) is considering listing the Aquarium Grotto garden, also known as the Fish Garden or the Gabalaya (Grotto) Garden, among the heritage sites of antiquity. The matter is on the agenda of the upcoming meeting of the SCA’s permanent committee for Islamic and Coptic antiquities.
The garden was established in 1867 by order of Egypt’s ruler Khedive Ismail, who asked the director of Paris parks to commission one of his expert designers to build the aquarium. The centrepiece was designed as an exotic grotto built of Aswan mud, red sand, and supporting material. The surrounding garden landscape was varied and exquisite. The park started off as a botanical garden that housed the Khedive’s exotic plants which were shipped from places as far apart as Madagascar, Thailand, and Australia. It also housed his collection of fish and reptiles from the upper Nile and Africa. It opened to the public in 1902.
In the early 1900s, Captain Stanley Flower introduced the Fish Garden by adding aquariums in the old grottos; it became home of a rare collection of African fish.
Renovated
The Aquarium Grotto Garden was fully restored and renovated in 2000. Damaged parts were rebuilt while retaining all the original features.
The restoration project included plans to expand the lake in the garden, which is now divided into two parts, one for ducks and geese and the other for swans. The garden is now illuminated with indirect lighting so that the scenery can also be enjoyed by night.
The SCA had recently listed the Giza Zoological Garden and the Andalus Garden in Gezira, Cairo—both established in the late 19th century—as antiquity sites. As such, they warrant protection and conservation.