The History of Cairo Citadel, From Salah al-Din to Mohamed Ali
By Kenzy Fahmy
High above a bustling Cairo, looking out over the city of a thousand minarets, stands the Citadel, silent and proud. The Citadel has stood for over 800 years, a sentinel to the city and a testament to Egypt’s military and architectural legacy. Built in 1176 by Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi, first Sultan of Egypt and founder of the Ayyubid dynasty, and completed by Sultan Kamil ibn al-Adel in 1207, its location high above Cairo made it difficult to attack and provided the perfect vantage point from which the entire city could be monitored; from up here you can see it all.
It has since undergone several phases of major development, by the Mamluks in the 14th century, and of course by Mohamed Ali Pasha in the 19th century, when several buildings were demolished and new palaces and mosques constructed in their place. Each new ruler sought to add his own touch to the layout and structure, not an uncommon occurrence; in fact this is a practice that goes back to the ancient Egyptians and to many other ancient civilizations.
For almost 700 years the Citadel was home to Egypt’s rulers and the seat of its government, a fact which changed only in 1874 when Khedive Ismail decided to make the move to Abdeen Palace, to the heart of a newly built and fast-growing downtown area.
Salah al-Din built the citadel to protect the city from the Crusaders, drawing inspiration from the walled citadels of Damascus and Aleppo. He ordered the construction of a wall that spanned almost 20 kilometers and connected to the banks of the Nile, with the city lying safe within. He also ordered the construction of a well, 85 meters deep, that would supply water to the fortress and its inhabitants. The well, which bears the name of the famous ruler and which still exists today, was powered by two waterwheels driven by oxen that would carry the water up to the surface; at the time this was a major feat of engineering and is one of the few remaining features of the original structure.
But Salah al-Din never resided at the Citadel. It was Sultan Kamil, his nephew, who finally saw the completion of construction and became the first ruler to make the Citadel his place of residence. Kamil finalized the construction of the palaces located at the southern end, as well as a mosque, a royal library and the hall of justice.
The next major phase of construction took place under the Mamluk rulers between the 13th and 16th centuries. Baibars, nicknamed the Father of Conquests, was the fourth sultan of the Mamluk dynasty and one of Egypt’s most successful rulers. He was the first to build a gate that divided the complex into two distinct areas, the Northern Enclosure, reserved for military garrisons, and the Southern Enclosure, where the royal palaces were located and where Baibars kept his harem. Here he built his Hall of Gold and the Dome of al-Zahir, both of which were used as reception halls, as well as his Tower of Lions, named after his iconic emblem and adorned with lion carvings that can still be seen from the Police Museum that stands there today.
20 years later, Sultan al-Nasir oversaw the ambitious expansion of the southern borders to their present position, making room for new palaces, halls, and mosques. He also oversaw the renovation and completion of the aqueduct and water tower that connected the Citadel to the Nile and provided an additional source of water to a growing population. Al-Nasir was one of the major contributors to the many structural changes the Citadel has undergone, leaving behind quite a legacy, including the al-Nasir Mosque which remains until today and where you can still see the Pharaonic columns they had brought in during construction.
Although al-Nasir can be credited with carrying out some truly impressive development, it was Mohamed Ali who really left his mark, practically ridding the Citadel of any trace of the country’s previous rulers; he made the Citadel his and he did it with a violent flair that was all his own. As part of his consolidation of power, Mohamed Ali famously invited Mamluk leaders to a banquet held at the historic fortress, only to have them all assassinated as they were leaving. He demolished a large portion of its existing structures, including the palace and throne hall built by al-Nasir, in order to make renovations of his own and construct his Ottoman-style mosque, the Mosque of Mohamed Ali, where he would later be buried.
During the early 1900s, the Citadel was used by the British as a military stronghold, followed by the Egyptian army once independence from British rule was achieved. It was finally declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1976 and opened to the public in 1983. Now, the Citadel remains an iconic part of the country’s history and of the city’s skyline. It has become one of Egypt’s most important tourist attractions and one of the jewels of Islamic Cairo. What stands today could not be more different from what was originally constructed, but if you look close enough, you’ll find traces of what it once was and what it always will be, a symbol of strength, pride and resilience.