Lataif Al Qahira
A digital open-source database for the architecture and urbanization of Cairo in the 9th and 20th centuries It aims to preserve the city's memory and record its historical layers and architectural treasures It provides in addition to verified knowledge, textual and visual materials It establishes a digital space for interested people and specialists to communicate, interact, and publish their documents.
Cairo is one of the cities with a long, multi-layered history with long roots. Cairo, as we know it now, was formed through centuries of transformations, and its fingerprints still surround the pioneers of Cairo and dazzle them with the architectural and artistic treasures it contains, which is what we call Lataif Al Qahira. Some of these "Lataif" have received care and been highlighted, while others still suffer from ignorance and are threatened by the absence of their story from the memory of the city and society. Lataif Al Qahira is a platform whose main role is to disseminate knowledge related to the architectural and urban heritage of Cairo. A digital space provides those interested in preserving the city’s memory, with opportunities to communicate and interact with their peers, publish their documents, experiences, and related works, and participate in activities about Lataif Al Qahira... for more
The Orientalist painters produced realistic & imaginative pictures of Cairo. That resulted in a collection of works by these Orientalists, of which we have identified around 2000 paintings by nearly 200 painters.
Cartography is one of the mechanisms that we can use to recognize the urban of the city and its history, which from we can draw a picture of the city as it was in the past and we can identify its future.
A reading of the history of the community’s urbanization process. The adopted angle of vision by the author presents a social point of reference and political and economic forces. It also covers history, geography, settlement, and the local environment.
Lataif Al Qahira is based on a wide range of references, which vary between:
Literature, whether historical, architectural or urban.
Maps as a spatial reference and their variables with successive stages.
Photographs and paintings.
Architectural drawings and design sketches of Cairo’s buildings in that period.
Literature
The Center's library represents the primary source of references, including a valuable collection on the architecture and urban of Cairo throughout its history, in addition to the Center's special collection of photographs, maps, and others.
The following list represents a selection of the most prominent references for Lataif Al Qahira to give those interested an additional resource for more information. The references associated with each element can be viewed through the documentary records of the elements.
You can view the collection of books related to Cairo in the center’s library here...
Maps..
Below are some of the most important sources that include a number of maps of Cairo available for viewing:
Public and national libraries
Bibliothèque nationale de France
The British Library
Biblioteca Nacional de España
Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana
Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Bayerische Staatsbibliothek
Library of Congress Geography and Map Division
New York Public Library
The National Library of Australia
The digital portal of the Swiss libraries (e-rara)
Internet Archive
Universities
The Map collection at Charles University
The University of Chicago Library
Harvard Map Collection
Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library
George A Smathers Libraries، University of Florida Library
University of Texas Libraries، Perry-Castañeda Map Collection
Princeton University Libraries, Maps & Geospatial Data
The McGill University Library
Universiteitesbibliotheek VU
Hebrew University of Jerusalem
Historic Maps Collection، American University at Cairo
Organizations and institutes
Institut Cartogràfic i Geològic de Catalunya
Archivio Stato di Torino
Museums and private collections
David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
Kupferstichkabinett Berlin
Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana