Developers will spend $1.4 million to restore a 650 year old mosque tucked away in Cairo’s old city – the Al Darb Al Ahmar district.   The mosque is being restored in order bring new life to the impoverished district and attract more visitors to see the country’s treasure trove of Islamic sites.   A few American donors contributed to the restoration efforts including the US Ambassador Fund and the American Research Center in Egypt.

Most of the 92,000 residents in Al Darb Al Ahmar are some of the poorest in Egypt, living on less then $1 dollar a day.  There are many antiquities in the neighborhood including Islamic monuments dating from the early days of Cairo to more modern times.   Luis Monreal, general manager of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture described the area as “comparable to Rome” in terms of monuments