In Cairo, Al-Qarafa is the Arabic name commonly associated with the city’s great historic cemetery districts; “City of the Dead” is a familiar English label, but it can mislead visitors into imagining a single walled attraction. The name refers instead to an extensive funerary landscape woven into the capital’s urban history. Its paths, tombs, religious foundations and adjoining neighborhoods belong to a city that has continued to grow around them.
The distinction matters before planning a visit. The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities lists several burial and shrine areas among the components of Historic Cairo, including the cemeteries associated with Imam al-Shafi‘i, Sayyida Nafisa and Qaitbay. These are related places within a much wider historic setting, not necessarily one connected visitor route. A map pin labeled “City of the Dead” therefore does not by itself identify a ticket office, official gate or complete itinerary.
