Islamic Cairo
Cairo - Capital CitiesWhat: The richest areas of Islamic History and Islamic Art in Cairo rather than the amount of any Muslims who may live or work there. UNESCO calls Islamic Cairo “one of the world’s oldest Islamic cities, with its famous mosques, madrasas, hammams and fountains” and “the new centre of the Islamic world, reaching its golden age in the 14th century”
When: Commences with the Muslim Arabs conquering Cairo in 640AD
Who: All the varying Rulers and Dynasties who took over Cairo and subsequently Egypt
Where: Central Cairo; that existed before the city’s modern expansion during the 19th and 20th centuries. Includes Al-Fustat, Mosque of Ahmed Ibn Tulun; The Citadel Area; The Fatimid Nucleus of Cairo; Necropolis Al-Imam ash-Shaf’I; Necropolis As-Sayyidah Nafisah; Necropolis Qayitbay
The Citadel
Saladin built the Citadel and its surrounding 20km long Wall, to protect Cairo and the old capital of al Fustat, from potential Crusader attacks. He is quoted as saying,
“With a wall I will make the two into a unique whole, so that one army may defend them both; and I believe it is good to encircle them with a single wall from the bank of the Nile to the bank of the Nile.“
