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Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi Citadel
(قلعة صلاح الدين الأيوبي)

Title	Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi Citadel
Title Original	قلعة صلاح الدين الأيوبي
Publication Date:	579 AH / 1184 AD
Type	Other
Language	Undetermined
Digital	Yes
Manuscript	No
Library:	Museum With No Frontiers
Record ID	monument;ISL;eg;Mon01;8;ar
Library Location	Saladin Citadel is located on one of the heights connected to Mount Mokattam, east of Cairo, and it is an honorable location that dominates the entire city of Cairo, Cairo, Egypt
Date	579 AH / 1184 AD
Notes	Saladin Citadel is considered one of the most important landmarks of Cairo and one of the most luxurious military castles built in the Middle Ages. After Saladin al-Ayyubi assumed power in Egypt, he noticed that Cairo, despite its greatness and expansion, did not have a castle to protect it, unlike major cities in the Levant, such as Damascus and Aleppo. Therefore, Saladin began constructing the castle. He built the castle wall, its semicircular towers, and the two gates of the castle: Al-Qarafa and Al-Madraj. King Al-Adil (ruled in the period 596 - 615 AH / 1200 - 1218 AD) completed the architecture of the castle, surrounding some of the towers with external towers attached to them to increase their immunity, such as the Imam, Ramla, and Al-Haddad towers. He also added two square towers, the Tarfa Tower and the Karkyalan Tower. These works were completed in 604 AH / 1207 AD. The citadel in its current form is a great city bordered by huge walls and towers and divided into two clear parts: the northeastern part and the southwestern part. The northeastern part represents the military fortress of the castle. It is confined within an irregular rectangular area whose length from east to west is 560 m and whose width from north to south is 317 m. The walls in this part are consistent in terms of their construction and belong to one era. The southern side of the wall of the northeastern military part begins with the Mokattam Tower on the west, which is a circular tower dating back to the Ottoman era, followed by the Al-Saffa Tower, which is semi-rectangular, followed by the Karakialan Tower, which is square, then the Al-Tarfa Tower, which is also square, and the southern side ends from the east with the Tile Tower, which is circular. The eastern side includes circular towers: Al-Muqasar, Al-Imam, Al-Ramla, and Al-Haddad. The northern side includes two great semi-circular towers, one of which is the Desert Tower and the other is unnamed. On the western side of this part is the entrance to the amphitheater and the common wall between the northern military part and the southern residential part. The thickness of the castle walls is 3 m and their height from inside the castle averages 10 m, and the height of the towers sometimes exceeds 20 m. The walls are interspersed with a corridor 90 cm wide that leads to narrow, square rooms. The towers contain rectangular rooms, and in each tower there are two side rooms in the shape of arms with ports for arrows. This part of the walls was built in a short period of no more than seven years (572 - 579 AH / 1176 - 1183 AD). The southwestern part of the citadel still maintains the appearance of a royal city containing palaces and mosques. Successive rulers participated in its construction from the era of Saladin to the era of Muhammad Ali (ruled in the period 1220 - 1264 AH / 1805 - 1848 AD). This part occupies an irregular surface with an area slightly smaller than the area of the northeastern military part. Its maximum distance from north to south is 510 m and from east to west is 270 m. King Al-Kamil bin Al-Adil (ruled in the period 615 - 635 AH / 1218 - 1237 AD) is considered the first to move the seat of government and administration to the citadel, in the year 604 AH / 1208 AD during his tenure as deputy of the Sultanate in Egypt. Saladin Citadel remained the seat of government for nearly seven centuries until Khedive Ismail made Abdin Palace, located outside the citadel, an official seat of government in 1276 AH / 1874 AD. The architecture of the walls and towers of the castle includes methods used in building the walls of Fatimid Cairo in 480 AH / 1087 AD, such as care in the row of stones and the use of carved cymbals in the door of the amphitheater and the prominent balconies in the mourning tower. New architectural elements such as rounded towers also appeared in the castle. There are similarities in the architectural elements of the castle and those of Ajloun Castle (built in 580 AH / 1184 AD) and Karak Castle, which was rebuilt by King Al-Adil. Both castles are located in Jordan.
Sample Text	Tarek Torky “Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi Citadel” in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;eg;Mon01;8;ar

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Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi Citadel

(قلعة صلاح الدين الأيوبي)

Publication Date 579 AH / 1184 AD

Type Other

Language Undetermined

Digital Yes

Manuscript No

Library Museum With No Frontiers

Record ID monument;ISL;eg;Mon01;8;ar

Library Location Saladin Citadel is located on one of the heights connected to Mount Mokattam, east of Cairo, and it is an honorable location that dominates the entire city of Cairo, Cairo, Egypt

Date 579 AH / 1184 AD

Notes Saladin Citadel is considered one of the most important landmarks of Cairo and one of the most luxurious military castles built in the Middle Ages. After Saladin al-Ayyubi assumed power in Egypt, he noticed that Cairo, despite its greatness and expansion, did not have a castle to protect it, unlike major cities in the Levant, such as Damascus and Aleppo. Therefore, Saladin began constructing the castle. He built the castle wall, its semicircular towers, and the two gates of the castle: Al-Qarafa and Al-Madraj. King Al-Adil (ruled in the period 596 - 615 AH / 1200 - 1218 AD) completed the architecture of the castle, surrounding some of the towers with external towers attached to them to increase their immunity, such as the Imam, Ramla, and Al-Haddad towers. He also added two square towers, the Tarfa Tower and the Karkyalan Tower. These works were completed in 604 AH / 1207 AD. The citadel in its current form is a great city bordered by huge walls and towers and divided into two clear parts: the northeastern part and the southwestern part. The northeastern part represents the military fortress of the castle. It is confined within an irregular rectangular area whose length from east to west is 560 m and whose width from north to south is 317 m. The walls in this part are consistent in terms of their construction and belong to one era. The southern side of the wall of the northeastern military part begins with the Mokattam Tower on the west, which is a circular tower dating back to the Ottoman era, followed by the Al-Saffa Tower, which is semi-rectangular, followed by the Karakialan Tower, which is square, then the Al-Tarfa Tower, which is also square, and the southern side ends from the east with the Tile Tower, which is circular. The eastern side includes circular towers: Al-Muqasar, Al-Imam, Al-Ramla, and Al-Haddad. The northern side includes two great semi-circular towers, one of which is the Desert Tower and the other is unnamed. On the western side of this part is the entrance to the amphitheater and the common wall between the northern military part and the southern residential part. The thickness of the castle walls is 3 m and their height from inside the castle averages 10 m, and the height of the towers sometimes exceeds 20 m. The walls are interspersed with a corridor 90 cm wide that leads to narrow, square rooms. The towers contain rectangular rooms, and in each tower there are two side rooms in the shape of arms with ports for arrows. This part of the walls was built in a short period of no more than seven years (572 - 579 AH / 1176 - 1183 AD). The southwestern part of the citadel still maintains the appearance of a royal city containing palaces and mosques. Successive rulers participated in its construction from the era of Saladin to the era of Muhammad Ali (ruled in the period 1220 - 1264 AH / 1805 - 1848 AD). This part occupies an irregular surface with an area slightly smaller than the area of the northeastern military part. Its maximum distance from north to south is 510 m and from east to west is 270 m. King Al-Kamil bin Al-Adil (ruled in the period 615 - 635 AH / 1218 - 1237 AD) is considered the first to move the seat of government and administration to the citadel, in the year 604 AH / 1208 AD during his tenure as deputy of the Sultanate in Egypt. Saladin Citadel remained the seat of government for nearly seven centuries until Khedive Ismail made Abdin Palace, located outside the citadel, an official seat of government in 1276 AH / 1874 AD. The architecture of the walls and towers of the castle includes methods used in building the walls of Fatimid Cairo in 480 AH / 1087 AD, such as care in the row of stones and the use of carved cymbals in the door of the amphitheater and the prominent balconies in the mourning tower. New architectural elements such as rounded towers also appeared in the castle. There are similarities in the architectural elements of the castle and those of Ajloun Castle (built in 580 AH / 1184 AD) and Karak Castle, which was rebuilt by King Al-Adil. Both castles are located in Jordan.

Sample Text Tarek Torky “Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi Citadel” in Discover Islamic Art. Museum Without Borders, 2026. 2026. https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;eg;Mon01;8;ar