Editing Cairo (section)

===Islamic Cairo===
{{main|Islamic Cairo}}
[[File:Al-Azhar (inside) 2006.jpg|thumb|upright|Al-Azhar Mosque, view of Fatimid-era courtyard and Mamluk minarets]]
[[File:El-Moez Street-Old Cairo-Egypt.jpg|thumb|[[Muizz Street|Al-Muizz Street]] in [[Islamic Cairo]]]]
[[File:مصر القديمه ..حى الخانكه.jpg|thumb|[[Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Hassan]] and the [[al-Rifa'i Mosque]], seen from the Citadel]]

Cairo holds one of the greatest concentrations of historical monuments of [[Islamic architecture]] in the world.{{sfn|Williams|2008|p={{page needed|date=March 2022}}}} The areas around the old walled city and around the Citadel are characterized by hundreds of mosques, tombs, [[madrasas]], mansions, [[caravanserais]], and fortifications dating from the Islamic era and are often referred to as "[[Islamic Cairo]]", especially in English travel literature.<ref>e.g. {{harvnb|O'Neill et al|2012|}}</ref> It is also the location of several important religious shrines such as the [[al-Hussein Mosque]] (whose shrine is believed to hold the head of [[Husayn ibn Ali]]), the Mausoleum of Imam [[al-Shafi'i]] (founder of the [[Shafi'i]] ''[[madhhab]]'', one of the primary schools of thought in Sunni [[Islamic jurisprudence]]), the [[Mashhad of Sayyida Ruqayya|Tomb of Sayyida Ruqayya]], the [[Al-Sayeda Nafeesah Mosque|Mosque of Sayyida Nafisa]], and others.{{sfn|Williams|2008|p=}}

The first mosque in Egypt was the Mosque of Amr ibn al-As in what was formerly Fustat, the first Arab-Muslim settlement in the area. However, the Mosque of Ibn Tulun is the oldest mosque that still retains its original form and is a rare example of Abbasid architecture from the [[Islamic Golden Age|classical period of Islamic civilization]]. It was built in 876–879 AD in a style inspired by the Abbasid capital of [[Samarra]] in Iraq.{{sfn|Williams|2008|pp=50–54}} It is one of the largest mosques in Cairo and is often cited as one of the most beautiful.{{sfn|Williams|2008|p=50}}{{sfn|O'Neill et al|2012|p=87}} Another Abbasid construction, the [[Nilometer]] on Roda Island, is the oldest original structure in Cairo, built in 862 AD. It was designed to measure the level of the Nile, which was important for agricultural and administrative purposes.<ref>Yeomans, Richard. 2006. ''The Art and Architecture of Islamic Cairo''. Garnet Publishing, p 29.</ref>

The settlement that was formally named Cairo (Arabic: ''al-Qahira'') was founded to the northeast of Fustat in 959 AD by the victorious Fatimid army. The Fatimids built it as a separate palatial city which contained their palaces and institutions of government. It was enclosed by a circuit of walls, which were rebuilt in stone in the late 11th century AD by the vizier Badr al-Gamali,{{sfn|Raymond|1993|p=62}} parts of which survive today at Bab Zuwayla in the south and Bab al-Futuh and Bab al-Nasr in the north. Among the extant monuments from the Fatimid era are the large [[Al-Hakim Mosque|Mosque of al-Hakim]], the [[Aqmar Mosque]], [[Juyushi Mosque]], [[Lulua Mosque]], and the [[Al-Salih Tala'i Mosque|Mosque of Al-Salih Tala'i]].{{Sfn|Behrens-Abouseif|1992|pp=58-77}}{{sfn|Williams|2008|p=}}

One of the most important and lasting institutions founded in the Fatimid period was the Mosque of al-Azhar, founded in 970 AD, which competes with the [[Qarawiyyin]] in [[Fes]] for the title of oldest university in the world.{{sfn|Williams|2008|p=169}} Today, al-Azhar University is the foremost Center of Islamic learning in the world and one of Egypt's largest universities with campuses across the country.{{sfn|Williams|2008|p=169}} The mosque itself retains significant Fatimid elements but has been added to and expanded in subsequent centuries, notably by the Mamluk sultans Qaytbay and al-Ghuri and by Abd al-Rahman Katkhuda in the 18th century.{{Sfn|Behrens-Abouseif|1992|pp=62}}

The most prominent architectural heritage of medieval Cairo, however, dates from the Mamluk period, from 1250 to 1517 AD. The Mamluk sultans and elites were eager patrons of religious and scholarly life, commonly building religious or funerary complexes whose functions could include a mosque, madrasa, [[khanqah]] (for [[Sufis]]), a [[Sebil (fountain)|sabil]] (water dispensary), and a mausoleum for themselves and their families.<ref name="Behrens-2007">Behrens-Abouseif, Doris. 2007. ''Cairo of the Mamluks: A History of Architecture and its Culture''. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press.</ref> Among the best-known examples of Mamluk monuments in Cairo are the huge [[Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Hasan]], the [[Mosque of Amir al-Maridani]], the [[Mosque of Sultan al-Muayyad|Mosque of Sultan al-Mu'ayyad]] (whose twin minarets were built above the gate of Bab Zuwayla), the [[Sultan Al-Ghuri Complex|Sultan Al-Ghuri complex]], the [[Complex of Sultan al-Ashraf Qaytbay|funerary complex of Sultan Qaytbay]] in the [[City of the Dead (Cairo)|Northern Cemetery]], and the trio of monuments in the [[Bayn al-Qasrayn]] area comprising the [[Qalawun complex|complex of Sultan al-Mansur Qalawun]], the [[Madrassa of Al-Nasir Muhammad|Madrasa of al-Nasir Muhammad]], and the [[Madrasa of Sultan Barquq]]. Some mosques include [[spolia]] (often columns or [[Capital (architecture)|capitals]]) from earlier buildings built by the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]], [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantines]], or [[Copts]].{{sfn|Williams|2008|p={{page needed|date=March 2022}}}}

The Mamluks, and the later Ottomans, also built ''wikala''s or caravanserais to house merchants and goods due to the important role of trade and commerce in Cairo's economy.{{sfn|Raymond|1993|pp=90–97}} Still intact today is the [[Wikala of Al-Ghuri|Wikala al-Ghuri]], which today hosts regular performances by the Al-[[Tannoura]] Egyptian Heritage Dance Troupe.{{sfn|O'Neill et al|2012|p=81}} The [[Khan el-Khalili|Khan al-Khalili]] is a commercial hub which also integrated caravanserais (also known as ''khan''s).<ref name="Denoix-1999a">{{Cite book |title=Le Khan al-Khalili et ses environs: Un centre commercial et artisanal au Caire du XIIIe au XXe siècle |publisher=Institut français d'archéologie orientale |year=1999 |editor-last=Denoix |editor-first=Sylvie |location=Cairo |editor-last2=Depaule |editor-first2=Jean-Charles |editor-last3=Tuchscherer |editor-first3=Michel}}</ref>