Al-Asmak Garden

Al - Asmak Garden also called Hadiquat Al-Gabalaya is a beautiful place to visit for the whole family. It is situated in the southern part of Zamalek Island, close to the Gezira Sporting Club and not much far away from Cairo Opera house. It was built during Khedive Ismail reign in 1867 to be one of his properties. The Zoo management is running the Asmak Garden since 1902. The design of the garden is a fish like with its gills, mouth and fins with corridors for the visitors. It was intended to have the garden look as reefs at the bottom of the sea.  It is a fishbowl carved out of desert rock.  If you look at one of the ceilings of the hallways, you will feel like it is one of the structures that are caused by the sea waves or as if they are parts of a living creature swimming in the sea. The structure also is done in a way that when the wind passes by, it makes a sound that is similar to water movement sounds.   It has 49 fish tanks to show all different kinds of fish and turtles that live in swamps and rivers. Sharks are also sowed at the entrance of the garden. 

It captures the attention of the visitors. There are also gardens outside the aquarium that are for the kids to play or the family to enjoy. There are also gardens outside the aquarium that are for the kids to play or the family to enjoy.  In addition to all that, is a variety of rare trees and plants from Maldives, Australia and Thailand. 

Though it is supposed to be a beautiful place as it was intended, it is neglected a great deal. It is also not clean at all from the inside. It could have been much better with a little bit of care and attention. If it is given that kind of attention and the sense of beauty, it could return back to how it was before. Lots of black and white movies were shot there. Due to its importance and supposedly beauty, a recent movie was named after it starring Amr Waked and Hend Sabry.