For those seeking tranquillity in this hot weather, gardens are their destinations. Taking a peek into the surrounding earthly green helps improve your mood and clear your mind.
One such garden is the Aquarium Grotto in Zamalek, where a walk with friends or the dog is an experience that cannot be missed. Apart from the fish, which are few in number, the garden has much to show and entertain visitors.
For many years, the grotto garden with its calm atmosphere and its unique design has been associated with fiancés and young couples.
In time, it has become a garden for all ages. You can see people wearing roller skates whizzing on what looks like a track surrounding the caves.
People chatting at the cafeteria over their drinks and adults reading under spreading trees are common scenes.
Going back to its history, the garden was built for another reason.
Mohamed Abdel-Hamid, garden director told the Egyptian Mail that Khedive Ismail (1863-1879) built the Aquarium Grotto in 1867 to receive foreign guests whom he had invited to attend the opening of the Suez Canal two years later.
“Khedive Ismail wanted to dazzle his guests, especially French Empress Eugenie, with the grotto’s unparalleled French design that had never been known before in Egypt,” Abdel-Hamid said.
It was opened to the public in 1902 and closed twice: during WWI and for two decades in the 1980s for restoration.
Since its establishment, the grotto itself has had the same design. But there are more green spaces added to the garden in addition to the cafeteria and kids area, according to Abdel-Hamid.
The garden has a small building used for the research and applied lab. It is established to spawn different types of fish and houses a number of fish tanks with colourful smiling creatures.
For the grotto, it has five entrances. Inside, there are two sounds that can be heard.
The first is from air movement via corridors and the second is from bats.
“The only entrance which has bats is the one near the research and applied lab. Some visitors come especially to see the bats; they are unharmful Old World fruit bats which feed on the fruits in the garden.”
When entering, the visitors feel it is a natural cave that resulted in salt deposition with rain that looks like inverted pyramids.
It has corridors and caves. It seems that you are walking inside underwater caves.
The garden is home to exotic plants and old trees whose age exceeds 150 years like banyan fig and royal palm trees.
For taking striking photos, it is recommended to ascend the stairs surrounding the grotto and take a nice background that can hardly be found in any other place in Egypt.
The Aquarium Grotto has a beautiful lake in which there are hundreds of ornamental fish of different sizes that can be seen inside. Visitors can enjoy this view while sitting on chairs near it enjoy the sound of purl from the fountain that adds tranquillity to the place.
But it seems that this old garden still has more to entertain its visitors. Abdel-Hamid said the garden is undergoing a mega development project that will attract more visitors once carried out.
“There will be a separate Aquarium in addition to holding hologram shows inside the grotto,” he said.
It is located in Gabalaya St, Zamalek. It opens daily from 9am to 5pm.
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