Gayer-Anderson Museum

Cairo


Through a gateway to the south of the main entrance of the Mosque of Ibn Tulun, this quirky museum gets its current name from John Gayer-Anderson, the British major and army doctor who restored the two adjoining 16th-century houses between 1935 and 1942, filling them with lovely antiquities, artworks and knick-knacks acquired on his travels in the region. The house was used as a location in the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me.

On his death in 1945, Gayer-Anderson bequeathed the lot to Egypt. The puzzle of rooms is decorated in a variety of styles: the Persian Room has exquisite tiling, the Damascus Room has lacquer and gold, and the Queen Anne Room displays ornate furniture and a silver tea set. The enchanting mashrabiyya gallery looks down onto a magnificent qa’a (reception hall), which has a marble fountain, decorated ceiling beams and carpet-covered alcoves. The rooftop terrace has been lovingly restored, with more complex mashrabiyya.

From here, it’s rewarding to keep walking another 750m west to the popular quarter of Sayyida Zeinab, where there’s a metro station.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Cairo attractions

1. Mosque of Ibn Tulun

0.06 MILES

The city’s oldest intact, functioning Islamic monument is easily identified by its high walls topped with neat crenulations that resemble a string of…

3. Mausoleum of Shagaret Al Durr

0.1 MILES

Shagaret Al Durr never got to be laid to rest in this mausoleum. After the death of her husband, Sultan Ayyub, she assumed the role of sultana but her…

4. Shrine of Sayyida Ruqayya

0.11 MILES

This is one of the most important shrines in the Al Khalifa area, dedicated to Sayyida Ruqayya, the Prophet's granddaughter. Inside, the stucco mihrab …

5. Amir Taz Palace

0.3 MILES

Walking west along busy Sharia Al Saliba eventually leads to the Mosque of Ibn Tulun. A short detour north on Sharia Suyufiyya brings you to this restored…

6. Museo Mevlevi

0.37 MILES

Just north of the Amir Taz Palace, behind a green door with an Italian Institute sign, this museum is essentially a meticulously restored Ottoman-era sama…

7. Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan

0.44 MILES

Massive yet elegant, this grand structure is regarded as the finest piece of early Mamluk architecture in Cairo. It was built between 1356 and 1363 by…

8. Mosque of Ar Rifai

0.46 MILES

Opposite the grand Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan, the Mosque of Ar Rifai is constructed on a similarly imposing scale, begun in 1869 and not finished…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "egypt/cairo/attractions/gayer-anderson-museum/a/poi-sig/406460/355225",
      "destination": "Cairo",
      "continent": "Africa",
      "country": "Egypt",
      "city": "Cairo",
      "position": "superzone"
    }