The District of Dokki !!

 Hello fellow Rotaractors , 

as we are Rotaract Club of Dokki Garden-City, we shall introduce to you our neighbourhoods - Dokki and Garden City

Voila let's start with Dokki

The Dokki district is located in the Giza Governorate. situated on the Western bank of the Nile, directly across from Downtown Cairo. The area is surrounded by the Nile to the East, Sudan Street to the West and Abd El Salam Arif Street to the south, while Agouza and Mohandiseen are to its north. Even with these distinctions, it is still arguable where exactly Dokki begins and other areas end.

Finneyland mid-1930s delineated in red;
Abdel Rehim Sabry Pasha (father of Queen Nazli) residence "Villa Nawal" marked in green
Ali Sadek Bey residence marked in blue
Villa Doctor Salem Hindawi Pasha marked in orange square
Midan Finney and Finney Street marked in yellow
Villa Boulos Hanna Pasha marked in blue circle
villa Molho in white circle
Villa Solomon Green marked in red circle

 Dokki was designed during the 20s and 30s by Oswald Finney, a member of a prominent British family that had settled in Alexandria.

A famous square in dokki was named after his name "Finney square "that has inexplicably become ‘Viny’ Sqaure, remains an important Dokki landmark. 

 

 

Oswald J. Finney (1880-1942)

Villa Boulos Hanna with the nefarious  Finneyland in background

Finneyland home in 1936

Abdelrehim Sabry palace and gardens - villa Nawal

In the past, just like most of Gizas districts, Dokki was a small village right outside Cairo. In 1964, Dokki witnessed a great urban transformation when the wealthy class who owned mansions and land began to move there and live in Dokki , Officially named ‘El Dokki’, which means the harbour, it is believed to have originated from a family that came and settled here from Upper Egypt, only to leave it and return to the countryside years later. 

old adv. for selling lands in dokki 1931

Many landmarks are located in Dokki, mostly  the embassies of many countries including Russia, Somalia, France, Chad, and Ethiopia.

"King Idris of Libya died at the Palace in Dokki in 1983".

The main areas in Dokki, include around Amman Square near the Shooting Club, as well as along Tahrir Street, Cairo University, the Giza Zoological Garden, and the Orman Botanical Garden are located just to the south of Dokki

The Giza Zoo

Dokki is accessible via the Cairo Metro, with a stop on Tahrir Street. The Dokki station is located two stops on the Giza-Shubra line from the Sadat station at Midan Tahrir., with four stops spanning across the area starting with the Gezira stop, then Dokki and Bohous; and the fourth one being at the Cairo University.

El Mesaha is the most revered part of Dokki and is home to hotels such as the Sheraton Hotel, Pyramisa Hotel and the Pakistani, Yemeni and Jordanian embassies. There are also El Mesaha Arts and Culture Centre and the Modern Sciences and Arts University.

 El Behoos area, meaning ‘research’, earned its name from an Agricultural research centre located in this area. 

shooting club- dokki 

A significantly important landmark in Dokki is the Shooting Club. Originally named the Royal Egyptian Shooting Club from the times of King Farouk I, it was founded in 1939 with the purpose of providing an area for Egyptians to pursue their hobby. Next to it is the Ministry of Agriculture that has the Agriculture Museum that makes for an interesting visit.

Adjacent to the club is a very main street, Mohy El Din AbulEzz. This is a popular shopping hub with many restaurants as well. Towards the end of this road is Mosadak Street that also hold importance to this area with many popular outlets; it eventually connects to Tahrir Street – perfectly tying the area together. Tahrir Street has Cinema Tahrir, the Russian Culture Centre and the best koshary in town at Koshary El Tahrir.

In the Southern part on Kafour Street, closer to the Corniche, there is the Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum, which carries an impressive collection of European, and especially French, art.

Although there is not a surplus of outings to find in Dokki, there are a few notable ones.

Tout Express, on the corner of Viny Square, has been popular for years with its large selection of freshly squeezed juices.

Dokki might not be one of the ‘finest’ areas to live. But close to pretty much all the rest of Cairo – connecting easily to main bridges that would lead to closer and further away districts alike.

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closer shot of an old dokkian house 

Old Dokki- full of trees and gardens and mostly villas and small houses