Wagh el Birket

The Wagh el Birket ("The Berka") was, into the first half of the 20th century, the entertainment district (or red-light district) of Cairo, Egypt. It features prominently in several novels by Naguib Mahfouz, particularly his Cairo Trilogy.

Later, during the Second World War, the British military set up brothels run by the Royal Army Medical Corps.

References

• The Battle of Alamein: Turning Point, World War II by Bierman and Smith (2002)