According to Egyptian legend, once the location chosen, workers await the signal for astrologers to begin construction. This should make typing bells attached to the body of delineating the site, but ravens opposed and made them resonate earlier than expected. The planet Mars is now in its ascending phase, the Fatimid caliph decided to name the city "Al-Qahira" Cairo is in French. In French, "Cairo" means the victorious.
There are many buildings built under the Fatimid remaining today. Lovers of history and Egyptology will be happy to visit these extraordinary monuments built in another era. There are among these unique buildings: the magnificent mosque and Al-Azhar University, the three main gates, Bab An-Nasr, Bab al-Futuh and Bab Zuweila. Despite its architectural achievements that travelers to Egypt can still watch the Fatimids did not last long in power. Under the dynasties, Cairo, also known as mother of the world, transforming itself into a thriving capital city, ruled by sultans cruel and versatile. Cairo eventually extend beyond its walls, lying west to the port of Bulak, south to the island gives Rodah, while in the East, grandiose monuments arose in the desert Sahara. The third nevertheless remained a medieval city for over 900 years. In the mid-nineteenth century, Ishmael, the little son of Mehemet Ali, steeped in French culture, decided to make a city of European Sten King. During his 16 year reign between 1863 and 1879 he changed more than any leader since the Fatimid era. Before the 1860s, Cairo was a marshy plain, regularly flooded by the Nile floods. For 10 years, this plain was transformed into a vast construction site or architects Belgian, French and Italian conceived a new city western side of the old Islamic Cairo.
Since the Egyptian revolution (1952), Cairo's population has grown so dramatically that planners are having trouble keeping up. In the 1960s and 1970s, the concrete has invaded the west bank of the Nile, previously sparsely populated. Now more recently, the population explosion has had high or rocky hills and the desert is now a vast construction site where growing suburbs planned and informal settlements. Welcome to modern Cairo ...
How to go around in Cairo?
Finding your way in Cairo is not as difficult as you might think. Indeed, it is Midan Tahrir, which marks the heart of this bustling city. The downtown Cairo extends north-east Tahrir around Midan Talaat Harb. This shopping area noisy and lively host of restaurants and cheap hotels. Travelers will undoubtedly there. You can find cheap hotels and with any luck, visited Cairo in pleasant conditions.
The main railway station, is found in Midan Ramses. This zone determines the northern edge of downtown Cairo. Beyond these shots the suburbs of middle and working classes as Shubra, the weapon of modern Cairo. South of Midan Tahrir, the winding streets lined with trees in Garden City which housed most of the world's embassies in Egypt. Beyond Garden City that we leave the city to enter the dilapidated neighborhoods also collectively called Old Town. Here begins the site of Babylon and the Roman Fustat Arabic. During your trip to Cairo, you would certainly fortunate to visit the Coptic Cairo, an area surrounded by the old city today.
