Cairo Citadel .

Cairo Citadel Facts

The Cairo Citadel is located on Mokattam Hill in Cairo, Egypt. Originally it was built as a royal home and also as military barracks by the ruler Saladin. He decided that Cairo needed to be able to protect itself from any threat. By the time it was completed in 1182, Saladin was no longer the ruler of Egypt. When it was complete, Al Malek El Kamel was the ruler of Egypt and he was the first king to live in it. In the 1860s, Egypt's ruler Khedive Ismail moved out of the Citadel of Cairo into his own new castle. From then on the Citadel of Cairo was no longer used as the seat of government.

Interesting Cairo Citadel Facts:
The Citadel of Cairo was the home for the rulers of Egypt for 700 years.
The Citadel is a medieval Islamic fortification. It was built during the Ayyubid Dynasty.
The Citadel was built on hill to make it easy to see attackers and to make it more difficult for them to attack.
Construction of the Citadel began in 1176-1183 and it was completed in 1184.
The Citadel was supposed to be the centerpiece of a wall that was to be built to protect Cairo and Fustat from the Crusaders.
Saladin was the ruler of Egypt when construction of the Citadel began but when it was finished he was no longer king. The first king to live in the Citadel was Al Malek El Kamel.
The wall that Saladin had begun to build to protect Cairo and Fustat was still under construction after he died. It was still being built in 1238, many years after his death.
The Citadel was enlarged in the 13th to 14th century.
The Cairo Citadel is considered to be one the most elegant of the fortresses that were built during the middle ages.
Saladin also had a well for water built inside the Citadel. It is called the Well of Joseph and still can be seen today. It was approximately 280 feet deep. When the well could not supply enough water for all the people and humans living there, they brought water from the Nile to keep an adequate supply.
Cairo was invaded by the French in 1798. The Citadel was important in helping to protect the city but Napoleon Bonaparte's army eventually took control.
The Cairo Citadel is also called the 'Mohamed Ali Citadel'. The reason for this is because the Mosque of Mohamed Ali is there. The Mosque was built in memory of Muhammad's oldest son Tusun Pasha who died in 1816.
There are three mosques at the Citadel of Cairo: Mosque of Al-Nasir Muhammad, Mosque of Suleiman Pasha and the Mosque of Mohamed Ali.
The Citadel of Cairo is considered to be one of the ‘greatest monuments of medieval warfare'.
From the 19th century on, the Cairo Citadel underwent six major reconstruction projects.
Of all the non- pharaoh-related monuments in Egypt, the Cairo Citadel is one of the most popular.
Today the Cairo Citadel is a historic site. Its mosques and museums are historically preserved for future generations to be able to enjoy.