Al-Qahiraالقاهرة

In 969, the Fatimid general Jawhar al-Siqilli conquered Egypt and immediately founded a new capital just north of Fustat. Named Al-Qahira — "the Victorious" or "the Subduer," a name linked to the planet Mars — it was conceived as an exclusive royal city, walled and gated, containing the caliph's vast palaces, his court, and his troops. At first largely closed to ordinary people, it was the seat of the Fatimid caliphs, who ruled an empire stretching across North Africa and beyond.

The Fatimids made Al-Qahira magnificent. In 970 they founded the Mosque of Al-Azhar, which grew into one of the world's oldest universities and a beacon of learning to this day. They built grand palaces, markets, and monuments, and ringed the city with mighty walls pierced by great gates such as Bab Zuweila. The spine of their city, the processional avenue now known as Al-Muizz Street, remains lined with medieval treasures.

Over the centuries, Al-Qahira opened up, expanded, and merged with the older settlements around it to become the great city of Cairo. Its name spread to the whole metropolis, while its original walled core became the heart of Islamic Cairo — today a UNESCO World Heritage area packed with mosques, madrasas, and monuments from across the ages. To walk Al-Muizz Street is to walk the very spine of the city the Fatimids founded over a thousand years ago.

• What it was: the walled royal city founded by the Fatimids, the origin of Cairo.
• Arabic name: القاهرة (Al-Qahira, "the Victorious").
• Founded: in 969 by the general Jawhar al-Siqilli.
• Key monument: the Mosque of Al-Azhar (970), a future great university.
• Features: palaces, mighty walls and gates, and the avenue of Al-Muizz Street.
• Legacy: gave Cairo its name and the historic core of Islamic Cairo.

Sources include standard histories of medieval Cairo. Some dates are approximate.