Photo : Mohammed fayez aldalou — CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
Cairo · Helwan
Japanese Garden, Helwan
Rows of seated Buddhas under parasols, in a Japanese-style garden south of Cairo.
The garden was laid out in the early twentieth century, when Helwan was a spa town people came to for the sulphur baths. The vocabulary is Japanese: ponds, arched bridges, stone lanterns, and above all rows of seated Buddhas under parasols. It is not an authentic Japanese garden but Cairo's idea of Japan a century ago, which is exactly its charm. The district around it has changed a great deal: you go in through a door on the street, and the garden is smaller than you expect.
The extra bit
Helwan is the southern terminus of metro line 1, and the metro spares you a long drive down from central Cairo. Come in the morning, before the school parties.
Know before you go
Entry is cheap, as in Cairo's public gardens, but the place shuts from time to time for works and nothing announces it: don't make it the only reason for the trip. The statues have aged, and what you see is not a museum piece. Little shade away from the planted walks, and summer in Helwan is heavy. On Fridays and through the school holidays the garden belongs to children and games rather than to contemplation.
