'Blindsided by the beauty': architects struggle to save Cairo's historic heart

General view of buildings and historic mosques in an old neighbourhood of Cairo, Egypt September 3, 2019. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany

CAIRO (Reuters) - Alaa al-Habashi was looking for ingredients for a Ramadan feast when he stumbled on an Ottoman-era mansion being used as a slaughterhouse and butcher's shop in Cairo's historic Islamic district.

"I was blindsided by the beauty," the U.S.-trained architect said of the house which he first saw more than two decades ago. Built of brick and stone, it has a large inner courtyard and a number of rooms with decorative painted wooden ceilings.