Cairo History of Cairo Museum
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Despite what many people think, Cairo was not an Ancient Egyptian city, despite the presence of the pyramids nearby.
The beginnings of Cairo date from 969 when it was founded by the Fatimids, an early Islamic dynasty from North Africa and their mosque and university of Al-Azhar is still Egypt's main centre of Islamic study, while the three great gates of Bab an-Nasr, Bab al-Futuh and Bab Zuweila remain as landmarks in the city.
Although Cairo grew during the subsequent dynasties, it wasn't until the reign of Ismail, grandson of Mohammed Ali, in the mid-19th century that Cairo really began to take on its modern form.
In 1863, when the French-educated Ismail came to power, he invited architects from Belgium, France and Italy to design and build a new European-style city around the existing Islamic city and extending onto the area that was previously a flood plain.
With the completion of the Suez Canal, Cairo attracted the attention of the whole world and tourism and business boomed.
Ismail borrowed heavily from European banks, in order to pay for his grandiose schemes, and crippled by the repayments, in 1882 it all came crashing down around his ears, and the British stepped in and announced that they were taking control until Egypt could pay back all that was owed.
The revolution of 1952 brought the occupation to a rapid halt, and since then Cairo has exploded in size, expanding onto the far bank of the Nile, and also into other areas.
Cairo's main attractions: the Pyramids, Egyptian Museum and many ancient Islamic monuments, are in danger from pollution, neglect and dreadful management. Perhaps fuelled by fin de siecle fears and new age beliefs, in recent times the numbers of tourists in Cairo have been at an all-time high.
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