Wagh El Birket
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Wagh El Birket
| native_name = وجه البركة
| native_name_lang = ar
| settlement_type = Entertainment district
| image_skyline = Troops in the Birka Art.IWMARTLD2529.jpg
| image_alt =
| image_caption = Troops in the Birka, 1942 cartoon
| etymology =
| nickname = The Berka (WWII)
| coordinates =
| population_total =
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = Egypt
| subdivision_type1 = City
| subdivision_name1 = Cairo
| subdivision_type2 =
| subdivision_name2 =
| website =
}}
Wagh El Birket ({{langx|ar| وجه البركة}} {{literal translation|the face of the blessing}}){{efn|Here it is pronounced with the "g" and the "h" separate.}} was, through the first half of the 20th century, the entertainment district (or red-light district) of Cairo, Egypt.{{sfn|Moseley|1917|p=206}}{{sfn|Dawson|1961|p=33}} The lake was where Azbakeya is now.{{sfn|Tawfik|Ali|2018|p=114}}
Events
In the 19th century, as Cairo expanded, Wagh El Birket developed as a contact zone between the wealthy area around the Azbakeya Lake and the expanding central Cairo.{{fact|date=December 2017}} The street ran from the Hotel Bristol to Clot Bey Square.{{sfn|Sladen|1911}}
In 1911, the street was described as "the most unblushing in Cairo".{{sfn|Sladen|1911}} On one side was an arcade with cafes underneath. On the other were houses with balconies on the upper floors. "Ladies of the night" dressed in flimsy gowns would display themselves on the balconies. Towards the Clot Bey end was the Fishmarket, a particularly squalid area.{{sfn|Sladen|1911}}
=WWI=
In World War I, there were violent incidents in the Wagh El Birket, including the major incident known as the Battle of the Wazzir.
=WWII=
During the Second World War, the street was known as "the Berka" by troops.{{sfn|Richardson|2003|p=130}} The military set up brothels on the street, which Medical Corps controlled.{{sfn|Thompson2010|p=50}} Medical centres, officially known as PA centres (preventative ablution),{{sfn|Stout|1954|p=599}} to try and prevent servicemen catching STI were set up in the area,{{sfn|Bierman|Smith|2002|p=42}} and the army medical services oversaw the regular check-ups of prostitutes which were carried out by civilian authorities. The street had warning signs of a cross on a white background at both ends.{{sfn|Palmer et al|1990|p=172}}
After two Australian soldiers were killed on the street,{{sfn|Richardson|2003|p=130}} the authorities closed the Berka down in May 1942. Some of the troops blamed General Bernard Montgomery for the closure as he had a reputation as a Puritan.{{cite news |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10565096 |title=NZ's lost city in Egypt |author=Stone, Andrew |date=4 April 2009 |work=The New Zealand Herald |access-date=30 November 2011}}
Fiction
The Wagh El Birket features prominently in several novels by Egyptian author Naguib Mahfouz, particularly the Cairo Trilogy. {{sfn|Richardson|2003|p=130}}
Notes
{{notelist}}
References
=Inline citations=
{{reflist}}
=Bibliography=
- {{cite book |last1=Bierman |first1=John |last2=Smith |first2=Colin |title=The Battle of Alamein: Turning Point, World War II |date=2002 |publisher=Viking |isbn=978-0-670-03040-8 |language=en |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/battleofalameint00bier }}
- {{cite book |last1=Dawson |first1=W. D. |title=18 Battalion and Armoured Regiment |date=1961 |publisher=War History Branch, Department of Internal Affairs |language=en}}
- {{cite book |last1=Flower |first1=Raymond |title=Napoleon to Nasser: The Story of Modern Egypt |date=2002 |publisher=1st Books |isbn=978-0-7596-5393-1 |language=en}}
- {{cite book |last1=Moseley |first1=Sydney Alexander |title=With Kitchener in Cairo |date=1917 |publisher=Cassell, Limited |language=en}}
- {{cite book |last1=Palmer |first1=Roy |title=What a Lovely War: British Soldiers' Songs from the Boer War to the Present Day |date=1990 |publisher=M. Joseph |isbn=978-0-7181-3357-3 |ref={{harvid|Palmer et al|1990}} |language=en|display-authors=etal}}
- {{cite book |last1=Richardson |first1=Dan |title=Egypt |date=2003 |publisher=Rough Guides |isbn=978-1-84353-050-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uL86PAq-eHMC&q=Wagh+El+Birket&pg=PA130 |language=en}}
- {{cite book |last1=Sladen |first1=Douglas Brooke Wheelton |title=Oriental Cairo - The City of the Arabian Nights |date=1911 |publisher=Jazzybee Verlag |isbn=978-3-8496-5241-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yVGZDwAAQBAJ&q=Wagh+El+Birket&pg=PT72 |language=en}}
- {{cite book |last1=Stout |first1=Thomas Duncan MacGregor |title=War surgery and medicine |date=1954 |publisher=War History Branch, Dept. of Internal Affairs |language=en}}
- {{cite journal |last1=Tawfik |first1=Mennatallah Said |last2=Ali |first2=Sara Essam |title="Governance and Public Awareness" Dilemma in the Conservation of Heritage and Cultural Parks in Egypt |journal=Resourceedings |date=27 November 2018 |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=109 |doi=10.21625/resourceedings.v1i2.327 |doi-access=free }}
- {{cite book |last1=Thompson |first1=Peter |title=Anzac Fury: The Battle of Crete 1941 |date=2010 |publisher=Random House Australia |isbn=978-1-86471-560-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hAvLQo35cBIC&q=Wagh+El+Birket&pg=PA50 |language=en}}
External links
- [http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-raTrgD7Fu8g/TZVW676ngzI/AAAAAAAABGw/N0QSYnxi9wo/s1600/PS1378.jpeg Probably the aftermath of the April 1915 riot]. Blogger.
- [http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D3deIRwez2A/TZZ4T2TnxtI/AAAAAAAABHI/Z3CNNBZ8f5w/s1600/First-Wassa_destroyed-hotel._1qaa1jpg.jpeg A wrecked hotel in the Birka after the riot]. Blogger.
- [http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UUU_o8Tf6VM/TZVYqAVxvsI/AAAAAAAABG4/UceRjlNbDFM/s1600/Wassa_after-riot_1qaa1.jpg Riot damage]. Blogger.
- [http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-wbyGaC7RTC0/TZZZuTvDJGI/AAAAAAAABHA/KQYuj5v9hE0/s1600/AWM38-3DRL606-3-1.jpg "Riot" in the Esbekia"]. Blogger.
{{coord missing|Egypt}}