Al-Azhar Park

Al-Azhar Park is one of the largest gardens in Greater Cairo and one of the largest and most beautiful gardens in the world. It is located on an area of ​​80 acres that was used in the past as a dumping ground for garbage and waste for more than a thousand years

On the western side of the park is the old Fatimid city and its extension, Darb al-Ahmar, with its wealth of mosques and shrines, decorated with a long line of minarets. To the south is the Sultan Hassan Mosque and its surroundings, in addition to the Saladin Castle. open

The hill on which the park is located provides a high view of the city, and gives a wonderful 360-degree panoramic view of the attractive views of Historic Cairo. Before work began, the study was a large rubbish site. Workers had to remove piles of rubbish and stones that had accumulated over a period of 500 years, with materials estimated to be 80,000 wagons piled at the site over the centuries, and during the preparation of the site many tremendous discoveries were made

These discoveries included the discovery of the Ayyubid city wall, which dates back to the twelfth century during the reign of Saladin, in addition to many precious stones with hieroglyphic inscriptions. These older stones, some of which are up to one meter in length, were used in the construction of Saladin's wall. In order to uncover the wall that was buried through time, it was necessary to dig to a depth of 15 meters, 1.5 kilometers of the wall with its harmless towers and balconies, which appeared in all their splendor. It was designed by engineer Maher Steno (Egyptian) and the implementation was carried out by Egyptian companies with Egyptian competencies

While excavations were still in progress, a wall treasure was discovered at a depth of 15 meters and a section of 1.5 kilometers. The forgotten historical Ayyubid wall and towers have been revealed in all their splendor. It soon became apparent that the new exposed gem was inseparable from the garden project. The stone wall buried over centuries has been subjected to various forms of deterioration such as flaking and fragmentation. "The part of the wall constitutes a unified piece of masonry. It is composed of a few recurring elements, such as towers with circular facades and curtain walls, and is consistent in its use of materials. The walls are decorated and punctuated by cracks, arrow cracks, staircases and rooms." There are two former eastern gates to the city: Bab al-Barqiah and Bab al-Mahrouq