Mon Nov 11 03:31:05 UTC 2024: ## Cairo’s Historic Cemeteries Demolished for Modernization, Leaving Families in Grief
**Cairo, Egypt – November 11, 2024** – The ancient City of the Dead, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the oldest necropolises in the Muslim world, is undergoing a painful transformation as the Egyptian government demolishes historic cemeteries to make way for new roads and bridges.
Families like that of architect Ahmed el-Meligui are grappling with the emotional and logistical burden of exhuming their loved ones from their ancestral tombs. El-Meligui had to exhume 24 of his family members, including his grandfather, from their 105-year-old family tomb. “Death itself is a tragedy,” he said, “Here, you are reliving that tragedy all over again.”
The government insists that the destruction is necessary to alleviate traffic congestion in the densely populated capital. A massive concrete bridge now cuts through the cemetery, connecting Cairo’s eastern district with the central and western areas. The Khayalah cemetery was entirely razed in 2020 and replaced with a new multi-lane highway.
While the government offers alternative burial sites outside Cairo, they are smaller and more remote, offering little solace to families who are grieving the loss of their loved ones and their ancestral burial grounds.
The demolition has also displaced thousands of people who lived in the cemeteries due to Egypt’s severe housing crisis. One resident, Sayyed al-Arabi, who has lived and guarded a cemetery in Old Cairo for decades, now faces losing his home.
The destruction of Cairo’s historic cemeteries has triggered widespread grief and outrage among families and residents. While the government emphasizes the public benefit of the modernization project, it seems the cost to the city’s history and its people is significant.
First Piper 