Cairo Travel Guide — Things to Do, Food & Hotels
capital city of Egypt
About Cairo
Cairo is on the Nile, and has ancient origins in the vicinity of the Pharaonic city ofMemphis. The city started to take its present form in 641 CE, when the Arab general Amr Ibn Al-Ase conquered Egypt for Islam and founded a new capital calledMisr Al-Fustat, "the City of the Tents". The legend is that Al-Ase, on the day he was leaving to conquerAlexandria, found two doves nesting in his tent. Not wanting to disturb them, he left the tent. Upon returning victorious, he called his soldiers to pitch their tents around his, and this became the site of the new city in what is nowOld Cairo. The name may have been a pun – Misr/Masr is the Arabic word for city, but it is also the Arabic name of the entire country of Egypt. The Tunisian Fatimid dynasty captured the city in 969 CE and founded a new
Top Attractions in Cairo
Explore the best things to see and do in Cairo:
- ★Abdeen Palace
- ★Al-Azhar Park
- ★Cairo Jazz Club
- ★Cairo Opera House
- ★Dahshur Pyramids
- ★Egyptian Centre for Culture & Art
- ★Egyptian Museum
- ★Housaper theater
Cairo Travel Guide Sections
Our comprehensive guide covers 17 sections including: