By Amira Elhamy
Photo Credit Ahmed Saber
The beautiful building, we are talking about is “Sabil Oum Mohamed Aly Al Sagir”; which is a water reservoir that was built by one of the wives of Mohamed Ali Pacha upon the death of her little son Mohamed Ali, who was born in 1833.
The building is reflecting the perfect Islamic Ottoman style; its shape is curved and its front side is decorated with marble; there are two big walls that have beautiful golden written inscriptions that record the history of the building. The building height is approximately more than 20 meters. 
The second floor of the building is decorated with beautiful wooden art pieces that are reflecting the uniqueness of Islamic designs.
Mohamed who works in a café located next to “Sabil Oum Mohamed Aly Al Sagir”; says that the building is under the authority of Ministry of State For Antiquities and the vendors who are selling their goods at the entrance of the Sabil are actually renting this spot from the Ministry of Antiques.
There are two main vendors; the first one is selling books, English and Arabic and the other vendor is selling shoes.
Mohamed, who has been working next to the building for more than 15 years; says that the Ministry did start to do some restoration work for the building a couple of years ago; however renovation work stopped for no obvious reason. He added that the building is empty from inside and it is a big mistake to let street vendors sells their goods in front of such an important historical marks.
Much attention must be given to our historical heritage; as such valuable heritage is part of Egypt’s identity, as well as it is a significant source of income for our economy.
#Save our Heritage
