Amedeo Feniello – Cairo 969 AD A new capital for the Fatimid Empire

Amedeo Feniello, professor of medieval history at the University of L'Aquila, is the author of this lecture at the Auditorium Parco della Musica, which takes us back in time and space, telling the story of al-Qāhira, "the Victorious" (present-day Cairo), the new Fatimid capital founded in 969 by the general Jawhar al-Siqilli. Located north of Fustat, between the Nile and the Red Sea routes, the city quickly became a major hub for goods, money, and ideas. Caravans and ships, shops, and schools such as al-Azhar, one of the oldest and most prestigious Islamic institutions in the world, a mosque and university at the same time, crossed paths here.

Al-Qāhira, then, was a centre that connected, and still connects, Africa and Asia to the Mediterranean, giving rise to a remarkable urban economy and a cosmopolitan cultural hub.

The conference is part of a series of historical and cultural meetings at the Auditorium Parco della Musica.

Photo: the Auditorium Parco della Musica official site