Miasto Umarłych w Kairze - Media Drum

The historic mausoleums and cemeteries date back to 1000 years. EGYPT STEP INTO one of the most creepy places in the world where the living still reside amongst their dead ancestors - until government bulldozers erase this treasured place and their centuries-old way of life forever. The City of the Dead, or Cairo Necropolis, is a burial site at the foot of the Mokattam Hills, a short distance from the Cairo Citadel, Egypt, that is now under attack by government developers under a modernisation plan. The site dates back almost 1,000 years and boasts an array of historic mausoleums and cemeteries. This was also the final resting place for notable scholars, cultural figures, rulers, and members of Egypt’s royal and elite families along with Cairo's common folks. Actors such as Farid al-Atrash and his sister Asmahan, who appeared in Egyptian movies until the 1960s, are buried in the city along with royalty like Shajar al-Durr, a former ruler of Egypt, Aisha bint Ja'far al-Sadiq a notable female scholar, and Sayyida Nafisa an Islamic saint and member of the family of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It is one of the most unusual places on earth where the living and the dead co-exist in an area of just over three square miles. As can be seen in the images, people live here in makeshift houses that barely get any electricity or running water, and some of them even have tombs inside their rooms. Sometimes, the tombs are of their ancestors, but more often than not, these people live out their lives in the company of deceased strangers. These captivating pictures taken by photographer David Tesinsky give a sneak peek into the lives of these people who have formed a unique companionship with the dead. “These pictures tell the story of people who are living along with the tombs and graves in these homes in exchange for being mostly their maintenance workers,” he said. “People that live there take care of the places in exchange for a place to live in. “Although the ‘cemetery city’ is being slowly ruined day by day, and people are paranoid about their future.” As part of the Government’s plan to “modernise Cairo”, bulldozers are now razing centuries-old mausoleums to the ground, reducing the historic necropolis to rubble. This is said to be carried out to make space for roads and bridges that would link central Cairo to a new administrative capital, currently under construction 22 miles from the city. This move has met with resistance, provoking an outcry from conservationists and citizens lamenting the ruin of their cultural heritage, but the destruction of the necropolis has nevertheless continued. ENDs