Citadel of Saladin, From the historical sites, which is one of the finest and most visited places and diversity and attention and interest in Egypt, the citadel of Saladin, with its engineering elements to be a landmark and a prominent witness passed by the region in an era characterized by prosperity and spread and human development through the religion of Islam and the left values of justice and equality And peace on the edges of the geography of the Arab and Islamic world in general.
The locations of Citadel of Saladin
The citadel of Salah al-Din was located on a piece of the mountain connected to Mount Mokattam and overlooks Cairo, Egypt, Nile and Qarafa. It overlooks the Fatimid city of Cairo from the north, the city of Fustat, Al-Qarafa al-Kubra and the El-Habash pool to the south-west. From the east side.
About Citadel of Saladin
The citadel of Salah AL-Din Ayyubi in Cairo is one of the most prestigious military strongholds built in the Middle Ages. Its location is strategic in the first degree. This site provides defensive importance because it dominates the cities of Cairo and Al-Fustat and constitutes a high natural barrier between the two cities. In this situation, the connection between the fortress and the city would have been possible in the event of a siege, and it would become the last bastion of the sit-in if the city fell into enemy hands.
This monumental castle has undergone many historical events. Its walls witnessed various historical events during the Ayyubid and Mamluk periods and the time of the French campaign against Egypt in 1798, until Muhammad Ali Pasha ruled Egypt and restored its prosperity and greatness.
Building the Citadel of Salah al-Din
Sultan al-Nasir Salah al-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub was the first to think of building the citadel on the hill of Sawa in 572 AH / 1176 AD, where his minister, Bahaa al-Din Qaraqush al-Asadi, demolished the mosques and tombs that were on the sound to build the fortress. Artificial trench separates Mount Mokattam from the sound increased in its immunity and strength.
Inside The citadel of Saladin
The citadel of Saladin abounds with many monuments dating back to different Islamic eras that made it a fortified fortress used to defend the city in the event of any attack to a whole city containing mosques, arches, palaces, dawns, war factories, the Kaaba, and military and civilian schools. The installations that characterized the citadel of Saladin from other castles built in the middle Ages in the world.
The visitor finds the first entrance at the entrance of the door of Salah Salem, a large square known in the sources as the Royal Hush or the Royal Square, an area where there were old buildings dating back to the Mamluk era. Muhammad Ali Pasha renovated the buildings in it and created new buildings.
The citadel of Saladin is full of many walls, towers and doors. The first thing that draws attention to the castle is its towering height and its strong and steadfast walls over the years. Through these walls,
this contrast can be seen in the shape of its walls and towers.
Between the northern and southern names, where the castle is divided into two squares by two different saints, one of which is north, which historians call the fortress of Salah al-Din or the castle of the mountain, and consists of an area with a rectangular shape of 650 meters long and 317 meters wide. The southern wall is named after the castle and also consists of an area with a vertical horizontal axis length of 510 meters and a width of 270 meters.
These two walls are what all researchers agreed to designate in the North Square and the South Square.
They are separated by a very thick wall that extends about 150 meters and is called the Neck. On each side of this wall are towers with large diameters.
The Citadel of Sal-ah AL-Din AL-Ayubi has several doors, including the main ones, including the door of the entrance of the entrance gate of Al-Qarafa, Bab Al-Matar, Bab Al-Ser, and others.
Some of these doors have been blocked and replaced by new doors that were renewed in the era of Muhammad Ali Pasha. The main doors of the castle are Bab AL-Mokattam.