Damiette

Damiette (Arab: مدينةدمياط, medīnat dimyāt ) is a port Dimyat, in Egypt, in the delta of the the Nile, with approximately 200 kilometers in the North-East of the Cairo.

In the old Egypt, quoted was named Tamiat , but it lost importance during the Greek period after the construction of Alexandria.

Damiette took again importance during the XIIe and 13th centuries within the framework of the Croisade S. In 1169 a fleet of the Royaume of Jerusalem, with supports of the Byzantine Empire attacked the port, but was demolished by Saladin.

During the preparations of the Fifth crusade in 1217, it was decided that Damiette would be the target of the attack. The control of Damiette implying the control of the Nile, and the crusaders thought of being able to conquer the Egypt from there. After Egypt they could attack the Palestine and recapture Jerusalem. The port was besieged and occupied by crusaders of Frise in 1219, but in 1221 the crusaders were overcome in front of Cairo and were driven out of Egypt.

Damiette was also the target of the Seventh crusade, carried out by Saint Louis. Its fleet arrived in 1249 and captured the fort quickly. He refused to reassign it with king de Jérusalem, has who he had been promised during the fifth crusade. After the failure of Mansourah and captures it of the king, the crusaders were constrained to return the city. Saint Louis gave to the Acute-Dead ramparts the form which those of the Egyptian city had

Because of his importance for the crusaders, the sultan Mamelouk Baybars destroyed the city and rebuilds further it a few kilometers with better fortifications. Today a channel connects it to the the Nile, which makes an important port again of it. The modern city has a population from approximately 1 million inhabitants.

The name of Damiette was given to an agricultural colony formed in Algérie in 1848, to 3 km of Médéah.

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