Cairo was only definitively opened to all people under the rule of Salah ad-Din (Saladin), who dismantled the Fatimid Caliphate in 1171 and embarked on the construction of a new fortified Citadel (the current Citadel of Cairo) further south, outside the walled city, that would house Egypt's rulers and state administration. The old Fatimid palaces in the city were opened up to redevelopment. This ended Cairo's status as an exclusive palace-city and started a process by which the city became an economic center inhabited by everyday Egyptians and frequented by foreign travelers. At the same time the nearby port city (and former capital) Fustat, until then the economic hub of Egypt, was in a slow decline, further paving the way for Cairo's ascendance.