Gayer-Anderson Museum

Two 17th-century merchant houses furnished as one, adjoining the Ibn Tulun Mosque

The Gayer-Anderson Museum occupies two connected 17th-century townhouses adjacent to the Ibn Tulun Mosque, furnished and decorated by the British collector Major John Gayer-Anderson in the mid-20th century. The result is one of Cairo's most atmospheric interiors — rooms filled with Islamic antiques, mosaics, paintings, Persian ceramics, and an eclectic personal collection that reflects the taste of a particular kind of European who fell in love with the Arab world.

The rooftop terrace and the qa'a (reception hall) are the standouts — the qa'a in particular, with its fountain, painted ceiling, and mashrabiya (carved wooden lattice) screens, exemplifies the Ottoman domestic interior at its most refined.

Admission is included with the ticket to Ibn Tulun Mosque next door. Give it 45 minutes.

things to do museum islamic cairo
A story
John Gayer-Anderson was a British army doctor who fell in love with Cairo and spent decades restoring two adjacent 17th-century mansions adjacent to the Ibn Tulun Mosque. He furnished them with antiques, medieval Islamic manuscripts, and his own eclectic collection of East Asian and European art, then bequeathed the whole ensemble to the Egyptian government in 1942. The house was used as a filming location for the 1977 James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me — the set designers chose it for its maze-like quality.

Other places in Islamic Cairo