Islamic Cairo

Islamic Cairo is a part of central Cairo often visited by tourists because of its high proportion of historically important mosques and other Islamic monuments. Overlooked by the Citadel. v t e

Islamic Cairo is a part of central Cairo noted for its historically important mosques and other Islamic monuments. It is overlooked by the Cairo Citadel . Map of Medieval Cairo Islamic Cairo, also referred to as Medieval Cairo or Fatimid Cairo, was founded in 969 as the royal enclosure for the Fatimid caliphs, while the actual economic and administrative capital was in nearby Fustat . Fustat was established by Arab military commander 'Amr ibn al-'As following the conquest of Egypt in 641, and took over as the capital which previously was located in Alexandria . Al-Askar, located in what is now Old Cairo , was the capital of Egypt from 750 to 868. Ahmad ibn Tulun established Al-Qatta'i as the new capital of Egypt, and remained the capital until 905, when the Fustat once again became the capital. After Fustat was destroyed in 1168/1169 to prevent its capture by the Crusaders , the administrative capital of Egypt moved to Cairo , where it has remained ever since. It took four years for the General Jawhar Al Sikilli (the Sicilian) to build Cairo and for the Fatimid Calif Al Muizz to leave his old Mahdia in Tunisia and settle in the new Capital of Fatimids in Egypt. After Memphis , Heliopolis , Giza and the Byzantine fortress of Babylon-in-Egypt , Fustat was a new city built as a military garrison for Arab troops. It was the closest central location to Arabia that was accessible to the Nile . Fustat became a regional center of Islam during the Umayyad period. It was where the Umayyad ruler, Marwan II , made his last stand against the Abbasids . Later, during the Fatimid era, Al-Qahira (Cairo) was officially founded in 969 as an imperial capital just to the north of Fustat. Over the centuries, Cairo grew to absorb other local cities such as Fustat, but the year 969 is considered the "founding year" of the modern city. In 1250, the slave soldiers or Mamluks seized Egypt and ruled from their capital at Cairo until 1517, when they were defeated by the Ottomans . By the 16th century, Cairo had high-rise apartment buildings where the two lower floors were for commercial and storage purposes and the multiple stories above them were rented out to tenants . Napoleon 's French army briefly occupied Egypt from 1798 to 1801, after which an Albanian officer in the Ottoman army named Muhammad Ali Pasha made Cairo the capital of an independent empire that lasted from 1805 to 1882. The city then came under British control until Egypt was granted its independence in 1922. Traditional Islamic principles of built environment .

Part of central Cairo around the old walled city Islamic Cairo ( , meaning: Al-Mu'izz's Cairo), also called Historic Cairo or Medieval Cairo , refers generically to the historic areas of Cairo , Egypt , that existed before the city's modern expansion during the 19th and 20th centuries; particularly the central parts around the old walled city and around the Citadel of Cairo . The name " Islamic " Cairo refers not to a greater prominence of Muslims in the area but rather to the city's rich history and heritage since its foundation in the early period of Islam , while distinguishing it from with the nearby Ancient Egyptian sites of Giza and Memphis . This area holds one of the largest and densest concentrations of historic architecture in the Islamic world . It is characterized by hundreds of mosques , tombs, madrasas , mansions, caravanserais , and fortifications dating from throughout the Islamic era of Egypt .

Part of central Cairo around the old walled city Islamic Cairo ( ), or Medieval Cairo , officially Historic Cairo (القاهرة التاريخية al-Qāhira tārīkhiyya ), refers mostly to the areas of Cairo , Egypt, that were built from the Muslim conquest in 641 CE until the city's modern expansion in the 19th century during Khedive Ismail's rule, namely: the central parts within the old walled city, the historic cemeteries , the area around the Citadel of Cairo , parts of Bulaq , and Old Cairo ( ) which dates back to Roman times and includes major Coptic Christian monuments. The name "Islamic" Cairo refers not to a greater prominence of Muslims in the area but rather to the city's rich history and heritage since its foundation in the early period of Islam , while distinguishing it from with the nearby Ancient Egyptian sites of Giza and Memphis . This area holds one of the largest and densest concentrations of historic architecture in the Islamic world . It is characterized by hundreds of mosques , tombs, madrasas , mansions, caravanserais , and fortifications dating from throughout the Islamic era of Egypt .

Part of central Cairo around the old walled city Islamic Cairo ( Arabic : قاهرة المعز , romanized : Qāhira al-Muʿizz , lit. ' Al-Mu'izz's Cairo ' ), or Medieval Cairo , officially Historic Cairo (القاهرة التاريخية al-Qāhira tārīkhiyya ), refers mostly to the areas of Cairo , Egypt, that were built from the Muslim conquest in 641 CE until the city's modern expansion in the 19th century during Khedive Ismail's rule, namely: the central parts within the old walled city, the historic cemeteries , the area around the Citadel of Cairo , parts of Bulaq , and Old Cairo (Arabic: مصر القديمة , lit. ' Misr al-Qadima ' ) which dates back to Roman times and includes major Coptic Christian monuments. The name "Islamic" Cairo refers not to a greater prominence of Muslims in the area but rather to the city's rich history and heritage since its foundation in the early period of Islam , while distinguishing it from with the nearby Ancient Egyptian sites of Giza and Memphis . This area holds one of the largest and densest concentrations of historic architecture in the Islamic world . It is characterized by hundreds of mosques , tombs, madrasas , mansions, caravanserais , and fortifications dating from throughout the Islamic era of Egypt .