Description of the attraction
The Citadel in Cairo is one of the city's most important landmarks. The castle of impressive size was built by Sultan Saladdin in the XII century. The main task of this structure was to protect the Old City from enemies.
The Egyptian sultan, along with his successors, used the southern part of the citadel as the official royal residence, and the northern part as a military garrison. In addition, many other palaces and mosques were erected in the Cairo fortress, which are well preserved today.
The citadel consisted of watchtowers, a main building and a gate. The fortress gates were built at different times. The Cairo citadel had a very good location, making it virtually inaccessible to invaders. During the reign of the Ottoman Empire, the citadel housed the residence of the Turkish viceroy.
Nowadays, practically nothing has survived from the original Cairo citadel, except for a part of the fortress wall and Bur Yusuf. The most notable attraction of the citadel is the Muhammad Ali Mosque, built in the 19th century. The huge main dome of the mosque, which is 52 m high, dominates the entire Old City. Under Ottoman law, it was forbidden to build a mosque with more than one minaret. But the Mosque of Muhammad has two minarets, which proves Muhammad Ali's intention to no longer submit to Istanbul.
On the south side of the Muhammad Mosque is the Al-Gawhar Palace, which was used as a museum of jewelry. Today, the palace houses a historical museum, which houses a portrait gallery and items of royal furniture. In the northern part of the citadel there was a military unit and a prison. Also behind the mosque you can see the famous well of Joseph.
Every year thousands of tourists from all over the world come to admire the remains of the once great and invincible citadel.
