Old Cairo

UNESCO World Heritage Site
Old Cairo, view of Roman gate under theHanging Church
Interactive map of Old Cairo
Part of	Historic Cairo
Criteria	Cultural: i, ii, iv, v
Reference	89
Inscription	1979 (3rdSession)
Area	52,366 ha

Old Cairo (Arabic:مصر القديمة,romanized: Miṣr al-Qadīma,Egyptian pronunciation: Maṣr El-ʾAdīma) is a historic area inCairo, Egypt, which includes the site of aRoman-era fortress, the Christian settlement ofCoptic Cairo, and the Muslim-era settlement ofFustat that pre-dates the founding of Cairo proper in 969 AD. It is part of what is referred to asHistoric Cairo, aUNESCO World Heritage Site.^[1]

Miṣr al-Qadīma is also a modern administrative district in the Southern Area of Cairo, encompassing the area from theCairo Aqueduct to the north, to theRing Road in the south, and from theKhalifa cemetery to the east, to the Nile Corniche in the west, as well asRoda Island, or Manial al-Roda.^[2][3] It had 250,313 residents according to the 2017 census.^[4]

The area around present-day Cairo had long been a focal point ofAncient Egypt due to its strategic location at the junction of theNile Valley and theNile Delta regions, which also placed it at the crossing of major routes betweenNorth Africa and theLevant.^[5][6]Memphis, the capital of Egypt during theOld Kingdom and a major city up until thePtolemaic period, was located a short distance south west of present-day Cairo.^[7]

Around the turn of the 4th century,^[8] as Memphis was declining in importance,^[9] theRomans established a large fortress along the east bank of the Nile. The fortress, calledBabylon,^[a] was built by the Roman emperorDiocletian (r. 285–305) at the entrance of a canal connecting the Nile to theRed Sea that was created earlier by emperorTrajan (r. 98–115).^[b][10] While no structures older than the 7th century have been preserved in the area aside from the Roman fortifications, historical evidence suggests that a sizeable city existed. The city was important enough that itsbishop, Cyrus, participated in theSecond Council of Ephesus in 449.^[11]

TheByzantine-Sassanian War between 602 and 628 caused great hardship and likely caused much of the urban population to leave for the countryside, leaving the settlement partly deserted.^[12] The site nonetheless remained at the heart of theCoptic Orthodox community, composed of Egyptian Christians who separated from the Roman and Byzantine churches in the late 4th century.^[13]

After theMuslim conquest ofEgypt in 641 during the period of theRashidun Caliphate, the Arab commanderAmr ibn al-As establishedFustat (Arabic:الفُسطاط,romanized: al-Fusṭāṭ) just north of the Roman fortress, on the eastern side of the Nile. AtCaliphUmar's request, the Egyptian capital was moved fromAlexandria to this new city.

The reach of the subsequentUmayyads Caliphs was extensive, stretching from modern-daySpain all the way to westernChina. However, they were overthrown by theAbbasids, who moved the capital of the Islamic empire toBaghdad. In Egypt, this shift in power involved moving control from the city of Fustat slightly north to a new Abbasid city calledal-'Askar (Arabic:مدينة العسكري,romanized: Madinatu l-‘Askari,lit. 'City of Cantonments or City of Sections').[14] Intended primarily as a city large enough to house an army, it was laid out in a grid pattern that could be easily subdivided into separate sections for various groups, such as merchants and officers.^{[citation needed]}

Local Egyptian governors gained increasing autonomy, and in 870, governorAhmad ibn Tulun made Egypt into ade facto independent state, though still nominally under the rule of the Abbasid Caliph. As a symbol of this independence, in 868 ibn Tulun founded yet another capital,al-Qata'i, slightly further north of al-'Askar. The capital remained there until 905, when the city was destroyed.^[15]

After the destruction of al-Qata'i, the administrative capital of Egypt returned to Fustat.^[15] In the 10th century, under theFatimids, the capital moved to nearbyal-Qāhirah (Cairo), founded in 969. Cairo's boundaries grew to eventually encompass the three earlier capitals of al-Fusṭāṭ, al-Qata'i and al-‘Askar. Fustat itself was then partly destroyed by a vizier-ordered fire that burned from 1168 to 1169, as a defensive measure against the attackingCrusaderKingdom of Jerusalem.

By the end of the 15th century, the newer port ofBulaq was able to take over the role as the major commercial port from Old Cairo.^{[citation needed]}

Masr al-Qadima (Old Cairo) is a Cairo district in the Southern Area made up of oneqism (police ward).^[2]

The district had 250,313 residents in 2017 spread over 12shiakhas as follows:^[4]

The area includesCoptic Cairo, a walled enclave on the site of the partly-preserved Babylon Fortress. Parts of the ancient fortress's walls, towers, and its gate are still visible.^[16] The enclave holds a high concentration of historic Christian churches such as theHanging Church, theGreek Orthodox Church of St. George, theChurch of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, theChurch of Santa Barbara, and other Christian buildings.^[16] From the 11th century to the 13th century, the Hanging Church (also known as the Church of the Virgin) and theChurch of Saint Mercurius (located a short distance north of the enclave), served as the seats of the Coptic Patriarchate and the residences of theCoptic Pope.^[17][18] The Church of Saint Barbara and the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus are also notable for being among Cairo's oldest preserved churches, dating from the late 7th or early 8th century.^[13]

The area also contains theCoptic Museum, which showcases the history ofCoptic art from Greco-Roman to Islamic times, and theBen Ezra Synagogue, the oldest and best-knownsynagogue in Cairo, where the important collection of historic documents known as theCairo Geniza were discovered in the 19th century.^[16]

Count Gabriel Habib Sakakini Pasha (1841–1923), who had become a household name in his time,^[c] established the Roman Catholic Cemetery in Old Cairo.^{[20][better source needed]}

To the north of the Babylon Fortress is theAmr ibn al-'As Mosque, the first mosque in Egypt and the most important religious centre of what was formerly Fustat, but rebuilt many times since.^[21] A part of the former city of Fustat has also been excavated to the east of the mosque and of the Coptic enclave.^[22][23][24]

Nearby and to the northwest of Babylon Fortress and the mosque is the Monastery of Saint Mercurius (orDayr Abu Sayfayn), an important and historic Coptic religious complex consisting of the Church of Saint Mercurius (mentioned above), the Church of Saint Shenute, and the Church of the Virgin (also known asal-Damshiriya).^[25] Several other historic churches are also situated to the south of Babylon Fortress.^[26]

Further north is theCairo Citadel Aqueduct, built during theAyyubid andMamluk periods (from the 12th to 16th centuries) to supply water to the Cairo Citadel to the east. Long sections of the elevated aqueduct, as well as its intake tower near the river, are still standing today.^[27]

Located on the Nile River close to Coptic Cairo isRoda Island, which is connected by a nearby footbridge. Several historic monuments are located in the island, including theNilometer, built in 861 on the orders of the Abbasid caliphal-Mutawakkil. Although it was repaired and given a new roof in later centuries, its basic structure is still preserved, making it the oldest preserved Islamic-era structure in Cairo today.^[28][29]

In 2021, theNational Museum of Egyptian Civilization was opened to visitors in a new building in Old Cairo, near ancient Fustat. The museum provides an overview of Egyptian history with artefacts drawn from the existing collections of other museums around the country.^[30] The 22 ancient royal mummies formerly housed in theEgyptian Museum atTahrir Square were moved here in 2021.^[31]

The effort to conserve Egypt's monuments has existed since the 19th century. In 1881,Khedive Tawfiq founded theComité de Conservation des Monuments de l'Art Arabe.

In 1979,UNESCO designated Old Cairo, as part of widerHistoric Cairo, as aWorld Heritage Site, calling it "one of the world's oldest Islamic cities, with its famousmosques,madrasas,hammams and fountains" and "the new centre of the Islamic world, reaching its golden age in the 14th century."^[32][33]

The archeological site of Fustat, which include excavations to the east of the main historical enclave, has been threatened by encroaching construction and modern development.^[23][34]

Wikivoyage has a travel guide forOld Cairo.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toOld Cairo.

• Abu-Lughod, Janet L. (1971).Cairo: 1001 Years of the City Victorious. Princeton University Press.ISBN 978-0-691-65660-1.
• Behrens-Abouseif, Doris (1992).Islamic Architecture in Cairo: An Introduction (2nd ed.). Brill.ISBN 978-90-04-09626-4.
• Gabra, Gawdat; van Loon, Gertrud J.M.; Reif, Stefan; Swelim, Tarek (2013). Ludwig, Carolyn; Jackson, Morris (eds.).The History and Religious Heritage of Old Cairo: Its Fortress, Churches, Synagogue, and Mosque. American University in Cairo Press.ISBN 9789774167690.
• Hawass, Zahi A.; Brock, Lyla Pinch (2003).Egyptology at the Dawn of the Twenty-First Century: Archaeology (2nd ed.). Cairo: American University in Cairo.ISBN 978-977-424-674-6.
• Williams, Caroline (2018).Islamic Monuments in Cairo: The Practical Guide (7th ed.). Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press.

30°01′N31°14′E / 30.017°N 31.233°E /30.017; 31.233

• World Heritage Sites in Egypt
• Old Cairo
• History of Cairo
• Districts of Cairo
• Historic districts
• Districts of Greater Cairo

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