Citadel of Saladin

Salah al-Din Castle or the Castle of the Mountain is a castle located on Mount Mokattam

Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi ordered the construction of a fortress on the Mokattam mountain in a place known as the Dome of Air. But he did not complete it in his life. Rather, it was completed by Sultan Al-Kamil bin Al-Adil. The first to inhabit it was Al-Malik Al-Kamil, and he made it a home for the king. And it continued until the reign of Muhammad Ali Pasha

On the western side of the citadel, there is the inscribed door and above it an inscription referring to the construction of this fortress, and the text reads: “In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. The world and religion, Abu Al-Muzaffar Yusuf bin Ayyub Muhyi of the state of the Commander of the Faithful in the eyes of his brother and his crown prince, the just king, Sayf al-Din Abi Bakr Muhammad Khalil, the Commander of the Faithful, at the hands of the ruler of his kingdom, and the appointee of his state, Qaraqosh Ibn Abdullah al-Malik al-Nasiri in the year five hundred and seventy-nine

Salah al-Din dug a well in the citadel from which the army and the inhabitants of the citadel could draw, if water was prevented from it when it was besieged. It is the most impressive of the work that was done because the well was dug in the rock 90 meters deep from the level of the castle grounds, and this required a great effort at that time

The Citadel of Salah al-Din in Cairo is considered one of the most luxurious military castles built in the Middle Ages. Its strategic location is of the first degree, with the defensive importance that this site provides because it controls the cities of Cairo and Fustat. It also constitutes a high natural barrier between the two cities. In this location, communication between the two cities can be provided. The castle and the city are in a state of siege, and it will become the last stronghold to hold them in in the event that the city falls to the enemy

Many and many historical events have passed through this majestic castle. Its walls witnessed various historical events during the Ayyubid and Mamluk eras and the time of the French campaign against Egypt in 1798 AD, until Muhammad Ali Pasha took over the rule of Egypt, where he restored its prosperity and greatness. Sultan al-Nasir Salah al-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub was the first to think about building the castle on the hill of al-Sawah in the year 572 AH / 1176 AD, when his minister Baha al-Din Qaraqosh al-Asadi demolished the mosques and graves that were located on al-Sawah in order to build the castle on it, where the workers carved the rock and found an artificial trench Separation of the Mokattam mountain from Al-Sawa to increase its immunity and strength

Mokattam gate

This gate was known as the Mokattam Gate because it is adjacent to the Mokattam Tower, which dates back to the Ottoman era

This door was blocked at one time and was a rectangular opening made in a very thick wall towards the south of the Mokattam Tower. In the year 1200 AH / 1785 AD, a wall with merlons was added to this door dating back to the era of Muhammad Yakan Pasha, who built in this place that was empty in At that time, a palace with its accompanying facilities, and on this door there was a memorial plaque bearing a founding text in the Turkish language in the name of Yakan Pasha, and the date of construction of the door and the palace in the year 1200 AH / 1785 AD is now lost

new door

Muhammad Ali Pasha began building the new door in 1242 AH / 1827 AD to be used instead of the listed door, which was the public door of the citadel, which was established by Al-Nasir Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi in 579 AH / 1183 AD. The calf built in its place the new gate and paved a steep path for it to facilitate the ascent and disembarkation of the castle, and this road is known today as the New Gate Street or the quarry railway

The new door has two main facades, the first of which is the northern one, overlooking the New Bab Street and the quarry railway. It is located on the western side, including the old archives, the book of the castle khanna and the Janissary Gate. The length of this facade is 15.50 meters and its height varies from 16 to 20 meters. Distinctive and in the middle of it is the entrance block, which is topped by a memorial plaque inside which is written in the prominent patch script on a floor of plant branches “O open the doors” and below this writing is a decorative frame inside which is written “Abdul Ghaffar’s number.” It is located in Koshti. And his various weapons during the era of Muhammad Ali Pasha

middle door

He differed in naming this section “Al Wastani”, while Casanova mentioned in his book, which he wrote in 1894 A.D. about the Cairo Citadel or the Castle of the Mountain, that it was called “Al Wastani” because it mediates the two large diwans in the Royal Court, namely, the Diwan of Qaitbay and the Diwan of Al-Ghouri. The public marine - the new door - and between the courtyard in which the mosque of al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qalawun is located and the mosque of Muhammad Ali Pasha. Bin Qalawun is not to be a house of justice, but rather to be for drummers, and it was called Tablakhana. That is why this tower was named after the Tabaleen Tower because it is close to Tabalkhana

Muhammad Ali Pasha renovated this door and the wall that surrounds it, although the date of the renewal of the Wastani door is unknown due to the absence of a founding text or a memorial plaque in it, but it is likely that he renewed it in 1242 AH / 1826 AD when it was renovated to the door of the castle next to the Wastani door in the district Eastern

castle door

The inner door of the castle was known as the door of the castle tower, and this door separated between the mountain castle or the fortified military city in the north and between the castle and the royal city in the south, but now it is known as the gate of the Military Museum