diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 16a889d..ad75204 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 setup(
     name='staticmap',
     packages=['staticmap'],
-    version='0.5.4',
+    version='0.5.5',
     description='A small, python-based library for creating map images with lines and markers.',
     author='Christoph Lingg',
     author_email='christoph@komoot.de',
diff --git a/staticmap/staticmap.py b/staticmap/staticmap.py
index 15ed5a2..9a44ccc 100644
--- a/staticmap/staticmap.py
+++ b/staticmap/staticmap.py
@@ -7,6 +7,11 @@
 import requests
 from PIL import Image, ImageDraw
 
+try:
+    from cachecontrol import CacheControl
+except:
+    CacheControl = None
+
 
 class Line:
     def __init__(self, coords, color, width, simplify=True):
@@ -215,6 +220,13 @@ def __init__(self, width, height, padding_x=0, padding_y=0, url_template="http:/
         self.reverse_y = reverse_y
         self.background_color = background_color
 
+        # Optional cached session
+        if CacheControl is not None:
+            self.requests_sess = requests.session()
+            self.cached_sess = CacheControl(self.requests_sess)
+        else:
+            self.cached_sess = None
+
         # features
         self.markers = []
         self.lines = []
@@ -412,7 +424,8 @@ def _draw_base_layer(self, image):
                 raise RuntimeError("could not download {} tiles: {}".format(len(tiles), tiles))
 
             failed_tiles = []
-            futures = [thread_pool.submit(requests.get, tile[2], timeout=self.request_timeout, headers=self.headers) for tile in tiles]
+            request_fn = requests.get if self.cached_sess is None else self.cached_sess.get
+            futures = [thread_pool.submit(request_fn, tile[2], timeout=self.request_timeout, headers=self.headers) for tile in tiles]
 
             for tile, future in zip(tiles, futures):
                 x, y, url = tile