Salah El Din Citadel | Citadel in Cairo
Salah al-Din citadel
It was constructed by the founder of the Ayyubid state, Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi, in 1176 AD as the bridge between the central cities of the Egyptian capital, Cairo and Fustat, which he surrounded by one wall, so the castle was the throbbing heart of them, but fate did not give him time to see the completion of his work to defend Egypt from any Crusader invasion, and the task was completed during the rule of Sultan al-Kamil.
Historical highlights
The castle witnessed violent historical incidents where sultans were crowned and others massacred, and from there armies were dispatched to liberate the Levant from the Crusaders and to capture Cyprus and others, and witnessed the demise of the Mamluk state, Ottoman Caliphate rule of Egypt, and the establishment of the Muhammad Ali state. This is Cairo's Citadel of Saladin, whose secrets are yet to be revealed until this day, although it has wealth and treasures and artifacts unrivaled by any other castle in the world.
The castle occupies a rocky hillock of Mokattam Mountain, and its construction was supervised by Baha al-Din Qaraqosh. The castle was divided into two parts: the northern part, which is called the "fortress" or "the ruling part," and is utilized as a military garrison, surrounded by walls from the north and east sides, and contains round and square towers, the first of which was constructed during the time of Salah al-Din and the second constructed by al-Adil, and the southwestern part of the castle was allocated to the Palace of Government and the governor's residence.
Citadel Towers
The towers built during the reign of Sultan Salah al-Din are distinguished by almost perfect semicircles, which were introduced later during the rule of al-Adil. The towers built during the rule of King al-Adil are square and straight and are characterized by the fact that each one of them has several floors with rooms and openings (mazagal) for arrow shooting.
El Hadad tower
Al-Haddad Tower is one of the most familiar towers of Salah al-Din Citadel, located near its sister tower, the Ramla Tower. It was built during the reign of Sultan Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi (567-589 AH / 1171-1193 AD), stone-constructed, diameter 22 meters, and height 21.70 meters. Its first design was semi-circular in shape and altered to semi-circular following adjustments and additions made by King al-Adil (596-615 AH / 1200-1218 AD).
It is two-storied and has been the subject of a series of changes and additions; its original interior design was restricted to a vaulted central zone ending in three mazghal (archery slots). With the additions of King al-Adil, the rooms were converted into entrances, leading into a semicircular corridor that leads into five rectangular vaulted rooms ending in openings in the outer walls of the tower on both the ground and upper floors. The outer walls also featured projections, which were protruding windows used to throw liquid materials at the heads of attackers from above.
Ramlah tower
This tower measures about 20.80 meters high and is made of stone in a half-circular way with a diameter of 18 meters. There are two stories, each a central hall which opens into three rooms that lead to latrines, the narrow openings to the outside but wide openings from the inside, for the function of shooting arrows and spears.
The tower was extended during King al-Adil's rule (596-615 AH / 1200-1218 AD), where the arms of the halls were transformed into door openings to rectangular rooms with vault coverings, and each room ended with an opening (mazghal). Between Ramla Tower and Haddad Tower, there is a corridor with guard entrances, and each entrance contains a mazghal opening.
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