The Cairo old map shows evolutions of Cairo city. This historical map of Cairo will allow you to travel in the past and in the history of Cairo in Egypt. The Cairo ancient map is downloadable in PDF, printable and free.

The origins of Cairo modern city is generally traced back to a series of settlements in the first millennium. Around the turn of the 4th century, as Memphis was continuing to decline in importance, the Romans established a fortress town along the east bank of the Nile. This fortress, known as Babylon, remains the oldest structure in the historical city of Cairo. It is also situated at the nucleus of Egypt Coptic Christian community, which separated from the Roman and Byzantine church in the late 4th century. Many of Cairo oldest Coptic churches, including The Hanging Church, are located along the fortress walls in a section of the city known as Coptic Cairo as you can see in Cairo historical map.

In 969 the Fatimids led by General Gawhar al-Siqilli with his Kutamas army, under the moral flagship of Ubayd Allah al-Mahdi, a Shiite Ismaili Imam, to establish the Fatimid dynasty. Egypt was conquered from their base in Ifriqiya and a new fortified city northeast of Fustat was established. It took four years for Gawhar to build the historical city, initially known as al-Manṣūriyyah, which was to serve as the new capital of the caliphate. During that time, Jawhar also commissioned the construction of al-Azhar Mosque, which developed into the third-oldest university in the world. Cairo would eventually become a centre of learning, with the library of Cairo containing hundreds of thousands of books. When Caliph al-Mu'izz li Din Allah finally arrived from the old Fatimid capital of Mahdia in Tunisia in 973, he gave the city its present name, al-Qahira ("The Victorious") as its shown in Cairo historical map.

For nearly 200 years after Cairo was established, the administrative centre of Egypt remained in Fustat as its mentioned in Cairo historical map. However, in 1168 the Fatimids under the leadership of Vizier Shawar set fire to Fustat to prevent Cairo capture by the Crusaders. Egypt capital was permanently moved to Cairo, which was eventually expanded to include the ruins of Fustat and the previous capitals of al-Askar and al-Qatta'i. While the Fustat fire successfully protected the historical city of Cairo, a continuing power struggle between Shawar, King Amalric I of Jerusalem, and Zengid general Shirkuh led to the downfall of the Fatimid establishment.

The Cairo vintage map give a unique insight into the history and evolution of Cairo city. This vintage map of Cairo with its antique style will allow you to travel in the past of Cairo in Egypt. The Cairo vintage map is downloadable in PDF, printable and free.

In 1169 Saladin was appointed as the new vizier of Egypt by the Fatimids and two years later he would seize power from the family of the last Fatimid caliph, al-'Āḍid. As the first Sultan of Egypt, Saladin established the Ayyubid dynasty, based in the vintage city of Cairo, and aligned Egypt with the Abbasids, who were based in Baghdad. During his reign, Saladin also constructed the Cairo Citadel, which served as the seat of the Egyptian government until the mid-19th century. In 1250 slave soldiers, known as the Mamluks, seized control of Egypt and like many of their predecessors established Cairo as the capital of their new dynasty. Continuing a practice started by the Ayyubids, much of the land occupied by former Fatimid palaces was sold and replaced by newer buildings. Construction projects initiated by the Mamluks pushed the city outward while also bringing new infrastructure to the centre of the city as you can see in Cairo vintage map. Meanwhile, Cairo flourished as a centre of Islamic scholarship and a crossroads on the spice trade route between Europe and Asia.

By 1340, Cairo had a population of close to half a million, making it the largest city west of China. Although it avoided Europe stagnation during the Late Middle Ages, Cairo could not escape the Black Death, which struck the city more than fifty times between 1348 and 1517. During its initial, and most deadly waves, approximately 200,000 people were killed by the plague, and, by the 15th century, Cairo population had been reduced to between 150,000 and 300,000. The vintage city status was further diminished after Vasco da Gama discovered a sea route around the Cape of Good Hope, thereby allowing spice traders to avoid Cairo as its shown in Cairo vintage map. Cairo political influence diminished significantly after the Ottomans supplanted Mamluk power over Egypt in 1517. Ruling from Constantinople, Sultan Selim I relegated Egypt to a mere province, with Cairo as its capital. For this reason, the history of Cairo during Ottoman times is often described as inconsequential, especially in comparison to other time periods.

During the 16th and 17th centuries, Cairo remained an important economic and cultural centre. Although no longer on the spice route, the vintage city of Cairo facilitated the transportation of Yemeni coffee and Indian textiles, primarily to Anatolia, North Africa, and the Balkans as its mentioned in Cairo vintage map. Cairene merchants were instrumental in bringing goods to the barren Hejaz, especially during the annual hajj to Mecca. It was during this same period that al-Azhar University reached the predominance among Islamic schools that it continues to hold today; pilgrims on their way to hajj often attested to the superiority of the institution, which had become associated with Egypt body of Islamic scholars. By the 16th century, Cairo also 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.