Saladin paces the halls, sustaining his unwavering, intense devotion at the back of an army as he creates blueprints for a citadel.
Centuries later, Mohammed Ali dines in a large hall flanked by men.
He will pinch a grape between two fingers and greet the end of the Mamluks, they will not leave his citadel standing.
A sculpted, two-headed vulture sits on the west wall as a non-speaking witness to a massacre paces Saladin.
Today, the adhan (call to prayer) thunders through Cairo’s highlands and iftar cannons fire on balmy Ramadan evenings.
At the heart of it all is a single structure: the Citadel of Cairo Saladin paces
First called Qal’at al-Jabal or Citadel of the Mountain, it is the only urban citadel in Egypt and the latest addition to a series of buildings in Anatolia, Syria and the Arabian Peninsula.
It is considered the most monumental,
as the first seat of the Ayyubid dynasty and the Mamluk Sultanate.
First conceptualized by Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi in 1176 AD,
it was designed as the “bulwark in a grand and ambitious defensive project” that would encircle Cairo and the then Fatimid capital, al-Fustat.
Although Saladin did not see it come to fruition, his cousin realized,
Sultan Kamel ibn al-Adel, the project later in 1207 to 1208 AD.
In doing so, he effectively cemented the citadel as the “official residence of Egypt’s rulers” until the mid-nineteenth century. In the decades that followed construction,
the Mamluk sultans expanded the structure and endowed the citadel with an immense number of palaces and open spaces,
making it a beating heart in the center of Cairo.
Mohammed Ali was particularly interested in the citadel and worked to renovate and strengthen its dilapidated nature during his reign in 1811 AD.
Within the structure are several mosques, palaces and museums,
including the famous Mosque of Mohammed Ali, also known as the Alabaster Mosque due to the regal alabaster coating along both the interior and exterior walls.
Built around 1830 to 1848, it is also the grave of Mohammed Ali himself
El-Gawhara Palace (“the Jewel”) – named after Gawhara Hanem,
the last of the wives of Mohammed Ali – is located in the southern part of the citadel,
founded in 1814 as a residence for Gawhara Hanem himself.
In modern times, the Military Museum of Egypt was also added to the building in 1949,
solidifying the timeline of Egyptian military prowess from the beginning of the Pharaonic era to the present.
Likewise, the National Police Museum was also opened in 1986 on the northwest side of the citadel in memory of late Egyptian war heroes such as Adham al-Sharqawi and the officers of the Ismailia battle.
However, there are numerous other sites within the citadel, including the Archaeological Garden Museum and the Royal Vehicle Museum
From the time it was built to this day,
Cairo Citadel has “functioned as a backdrop to some of the most important events in Egyptian history.”
It was considered the most impressive and ambitious military fortress of its time,
and it was not until 1883 that it was used as a military garrison by British troops and later by the Egyptian army.
It was open to the public after its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
