Cairo Named Capital of Culture in the Islamic World in 2022

The Islamic Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) has picked Cairo to be this year's capital of Islamic culture. The celebratory announcement was initially scheduled to take place in 2020, but it got postponed due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Dubbed ‘The City of a Thousand Minarets’, Cairo was selected to be the capital of Islamic culture due to its hosting of numerous monuments dating back to many Islamic eras. The first mosque to be built in Egypt and Africa is the Amr Ibn Al-Aas Mosque, which is located in Cairo's Sidey Hassan Al Anwar. Al Azhar Al-Sharif, the mosque and the university, is also located in Cairo, along with many other landmarks that carry Islamic backgrounds. 

What's on the agenda for the celebrations? A series of cultural events including lectures, panel discussions, and seminars are underway, as well as artistic events including a film week that features countries from the Islamic world, a photography exhibition that explores the essence of ancient Cairo, and musical concerts that feature spiritual chanting.