- Type
- Fortress
- Origins
- 1176 · 12th century per Wikidata: founding, first mention or construction
- Location
- Cairo, Egypt
- Commissioned by
- Saladin
- Coordinates
- 30.0294°, 31.2614°
History
Saladin began the citadel in 1176 on a rocky spur of the Mokattam Hills, both to defend Cairo against the Crusaders and to dominate the city. His Ayyubid successors completed it, and under the Mamluks it grew into a grand complex of palaces and mosques, including the 14th-century mosque of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad. In 1811 Muhammad Ali invited the Mamluk beys to a ceremony here and had them massacred, taking full control of Egypt. He went on to build a great Ottoman-style mosque on the summit, and in the second half of the 19th century the rulers moved their seat to the Abdeen Palace. The citadel then served as a military garrison and is today a museum complex.
What to see
The skyline is dominated by the Mosque of Muhammad Ali, known as the Alabaster Mosque, with its slender pencil minarets and vast dome. Next to it stands the older Mamluk mosque of al-Nasir Muhammad, and the grounds also hold the Military Museum and the Police Museum. The terraces offer a panorama of Cairo's countless minarets, and on a clear day you can even see the pyramids of Giza.
Wikipedia article Wikidata Q1988240
Popularity: articles about this site in 37 Wikimedia projects (Wikipedia language editions and others).