Dokki

The Dokki district is located in the Giza Governorate. The area is a major residential and commercial neighborhood, intersected by major streets that help to connect it with both the Cairo and Giza Governorates. In the past, just like most of Gizas districts, Dokki was a small village right outside Cairo. In 1964, Dokki witnessed a great urban transformation when the wealthy class who owned mansions and land began to move there and live in Dokki more permanent, since it was so close to h. Nowadays Dokki streets hold the names of Arab countries. Dokki have five main neighborhoods: Bein al Sarayat, Meyt Oqba, New Dokki and Old Dokki, Al Masaha, and Al Behoos.

BEIN AL SARAYAT

The Bein al Sarayat neighborhood consists of four main streets:
1. Tharawat Street, where Cairo University is located. From one side of this street, the main entrance to the faculty of Commerce and Dar al Olom is located; to the other side of the street there is the university campus that extends to the Tharawat Bridge.
2. Ahmad al Zeyyat Street. This street is known as the El Moroor Street, because it is where the Giza Traffic department is located. In this street is also the great wall surrounding the University Campus and also the Faculty of Medicine.
3. Tahrir Street, which extends from the research center to the car company Makar Brothers.
4. The first part of Sudan Street where the ramp of the new Mehwar Bridge is located.

Bein al Sarayat can be divided into three main areas: the old area, called al Dawwar; the new area, called al Khareta; and the most elegant part, called al Topanga, which takes its name from Topanga Street, one of the most famous streets of Bein al Sarayat. Since it is home to such a major university, the area has an abundance of restaurants, stationery shops, bookshops, and many more.

MEYT OQBA

This working class neighborhood is located between the most elegant districts of al Mohandessen, al Sahafyn and Zamalek. This neighborhood is also famous because its where Nady Zamalek, one of the biggest sporting clubs in Africa, is located.

NEW AND OLD DOKKI

Basically these two terms refer to one single important area in Dokki, divided by the Dokki Bridge built to redirect the traffic from the main Dokki Street which, in turn, is connected to Al Batal Ahmad Abd Al Azeez Street. Dokki Street starts from Tharawat Street in front of Orman Park, and the Dokki metro station is located in Tahrir Street.

AL MASAHA

This area extends from Orman Park in the south, to Tahrir Street in the north, and contains the Egyptian Survey Authority headquarters. This area is the most elegant neighborhood in Dokki, with such hotels as the Sheraton Cairo, and embassies like the Pakistani, the Jordanian and the Yemeni located there. This neighborhood is also intersected by Masaha Square where Al Shaher Hotel and the German School are located. The name Dokki comes from the presence of the Dokki family who lived in the area from ancient times. This family originally from Upper Egypt, lived in the area for a while and then moved to the Egyptian countryside in cities like Monofeya, El Shohadaa, and the village of Salamoun, expanding to many other parts of the region such as Baheera, Kafr al Dawwar, Shobra al Khaima, Ismailia, Nasr City, Helwan, and Giza. It is said that the family of Abou Ashoura living in Naoora in Shohadaa is part of the Dokki family. The Dokki family is considered one of the biggest families in Salamoun.

AL BEHOOS

Al Behoos (meaning research in Arabic) neighborhood owes its name to the research center located in the area. This neighborhood is bordered to the south by Bein al Sarayat and Cairo University, to the north with Boulaq Dakroor, to the east with the Dokki neighborhood and Dokki Square, and to the west with the Kobry al Khashab (the Wooden Bridge). This ancient bridge is, as its name suggests, built with wood and the Behoos neighborhood started to grow and blossom in front of it. Al Behoos Metro Station is located in this neighborhood as well.

Last Updated: May 12th, 2011