[3]: 7  It is characterized by hundreds of mosques, tombs, madrasas, mansions, caravanserais, and fortifications dating from throughout the Islamic era of Egypt.

[6][7] (The pattern of founding new garrison cities inland was also one that was repeated throughout the Arab conquests, with other examples such as Qayrawan in Tunisia or Kufa in Iraq.

The Abbasids marked their new rule in Egypt by founding a new administrative capital called al-'Askar, slightly northeast of Fustat, under the initiative of their governor Abu 'Aun.

The city was completed with the foundation of a grand mosque (called Jami' al-'Askar) in 786, and included a palace for the governor's residence, known as the Dar al-'Imara.

[8] He became governor of Egypt in 868 but quickly became its de facto independent ruler, while still acknowledging the Abbasid caliph's symbolic authority.

[8][6] Ibn Tulun died in 884 and his sons ruled for a few more decades until 905 when the Abbasids sent an army to reestablish direct control and burned al-Qata'i to the ground, sparing only the mosque.

In 970, under instructions from al-Mu'izz, Jawhar planned, founded, and constructed a new city to serve as the residence and center of power for the Fatimid Caliphs.

The Armenian vizier Badr al-Jamali (in office from 1073–1094) notably rebuilt the walls of Cairo in stone, with monumental gates, the remains of which still stand today and were expanded under later Ayyubid rule.

[6][13] Eventually, Salah ad-Din (Saladin), a Zengid commander who was given the position of al-'Adid's vizier in Cairo, declared the end and dismantlement of the Fatimid Caliphate in 1171.

Salah ad-Din's reign marked the beginning of the Ayyubid dynasty, which ruled over Egypt and Syria and carried forward the fight against the Crusaders.

This ended Cairo's status as an exclusive palace-city and started a process by which the city became an economic center inhabited by common Egyptians and open to foreign travelers.

They became a mainstay of the Ayyubid military under Sultan al-Salih and eventually became powerful enough to assume control of the state for themselves in a political crisis during the Seventh Crusade.

[14] Under the reign of the Mamluk sultan al-Nasir Muhammad (1293–1341, including interregnums), Cairo reached its apogee in terms of population and wealth.

[6] A commonly-cited estimate of the population towards the end of his reign, although difficult to evaluate, gives a figure of about 500,000, making Cairo the largest city in the world outside China at the time.

[6] Under the Ayyubids and the later Mamluks, the Qasaba avenue became a privileged site for the construction of religious complexes, royal mausoleums, and commercial establishments, usually sponsored by the sultan or members of the ruling class.

Waqfs were charitable trusts under Islamic law which set out the function, operations, and funding sources of the many religious/civic establishments built by the ruling elite.

[17] By the late 15th century Cairo also had high-rise mixed-use buildings (known as a rab', a khan or a wikala, depending on exact function) where the two lower floors were typically for commercial and storage purposes and the multiple stories above them were rented out to tenants.

[6] While the Ottoman governors were not major patrons of architecture like the Mamluks, Cairo nonetheless continued to develop and new neighbourhoods did grow outside the old city walls.

[6][3] Ottoman architecture in Cairo continued to be heavily influenced and derived from the local Mamluk-era traditions rather than presenting a clear break with the past.

[6][3] Many old bourgeois or aristocratic mansions that have been preserved in Cairo today date from the Ottoman period, as do a number of sabil-kuttabs (a combination of water distribution kiosk and Qur'anic reading school).

The city then came under British control until Egypt was granted its independence in 1922.Under Muhammad Ali's rule the Citadel of Cairo was completely refurbished.

[3] Islamic Cairo 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 Tomb of Sayyida Ruqayya, the Mosque of Sayyida Nafisa, and others.

[3] The Mamluks, and the later Ottomans, also built wikalas (caravanserais; also known as khans) to house merchants and goods due to the important role of trade and commerce in Cairo's economy.

[6] The most famous and best-preserved example is the Wikala al-Ghuri, which nowadays also hosts regular performances by the Al-Tannoura Egyptian Heritage Dance Troupe.

[13] Another example of historic commercial architecture is the 17th-century Qasaba of Radwan Bay, now part of the al-Khayamiyya area whose name comes from the decorative textiles (khayamiyya) still being sold here.

[31][32][33] In the aftermath of the 2011 uprising theft increased among historic monuments and a lack of zoning enforcement allowed traditional houses to be replaced with high-rise buildings.

[34] Various efforts to restore historic Cairo have been ongoing in recent decades, with the involvement of both Egyptian government authorities and non-governmental organisations such as the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC).

[35][36] Around the same period, another initiative launched by the AKTC focused on revitalizing the Al-Darb al-Ahmar neighbourhood following the construction of the nearby al-Azhar Park.

This project aimed for a more bottom-up approach to improve the community's urban fabric and the socioeconomic situation of residents, as well as involving more public and private participation.

[35][36] Examples of more recent restoration projects include the rehabilitation of the 14th-century Mosque of Amir al-Maridani in Al-Darb al-Ahmar, which began in 2018 and whose first phase was completed in 2021, led in part by the AKTC with additional funding from the European Union.