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The Ezbekiya Gardens , to the north of Opera and Ataba squares, were laid out in the 1870s by the former chief gardener of Paris, forming a twenty-acre park. Subsequent extensions to 26th July Street reduced them to trampled islands amidst a sea of commerce and traffic, but the right-hand one has now been enclosed to preserve its magnificent banyan tree, while the other remains a pitch for hawkers of Islamic arts, gewgaws and incense. Beyond the clothes stalls on the right stands the Cairo Puppet Theatre . In medieval times a lake fed by the Nasiri Canal and surrounded by orchards existed here, but in 1470 the Mamluke general Ezbek built a palace, inspiring other beys and wealthy merchants to follow suit. During the French occupation Napoleon commandeered the sumptuous palace of Alfi Bey, and his successor Kleber promoted Western innovations such as windmills, printing presses, and a balloon launch which embarrassingly failed. Another novelty was Le Tivoli club, where "ladies and gentlemen met at a certain hour to amuse themselves"; unheard of in a society where men and women socialized separately. During Mohammed Ali's time, visitors could still witness Cairenes celebrating the Prophet's Birthday here (12 Rabi al-Awwal) with unrestrained fervour. Sufi dervishes entranced by zikr s lay prostrate to be trampled by their mounted sheikh in the famous Doseh (Treading) ceremony. However, snake-swallowing had already been ruled "disgusting and contrary to their religion" by the sheikh of the Sa'adiya, and under British rule popular festivals were discouraged and dispersed around the city. Nowadays, El-Hussein and other squares are more active during the Moulid al-Nabi. Though nothing remains of them today, two bastions of colonialism once overlooked Ezbekiya from a site bounded by Alfi Bey and El-Gumhorriya, where Scottish pipers once played. Here, Shepheard's Hotel (founded in 1841) flourished alongside the Thomas Cook Agency, which pioneered tourist "expeditions" in the 1870s. Rebuilt more grandly in 1891, Shepheard's famous terrace, Moorish Hall, Long Bar and Ballroom (featuring "Eighteenth Dynasty Edwardian" pillars modelled on Karnak) were destroyed by Black Saturday rioters in 1952.
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