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Saladin Citadel in Cairo (El Qal'a):
Article 01 :
One of
the oldest attractions in Cairo, located on part of El-Moqattam Hill.
Known as Salah El-Din's Citadel or " Qualaet Salah El-Din" in Arabic.
Salah el-din citadel, is one of the oldest medieval fortresses.
Positioning a unique and strategic location with a full view for the
city, cool breeze Salah el-din or Saladin; an Abbassid ruler fortified
the area to protect the Crusaders attacks.
So the
citadel served as both a fortress and a royal city. Saladin used the
modern techniques in fortress buildings at that time to construct that
unique citadel. Several fortifications & reinforcements were made by
Saladin's ancestors after his death. Saladin's citadel was the country's
government seat at that time.
Salah
El-din's citadel also, encloses the well preserved, marvelous Mohamed
Ali Mosque , built in the Ottoman Baroque style that imitates a great
mosque at Istanbul. South to the mosque located is the Jewel Palace,
known as 'Kasr El-Jawhara' , also built in an Ottoman style.
During
your trip you'll also, visit El-Hareem Palace, the Military Museum ;
which is fun to visit as it contains a collection of weapons, costumes,
and also some pictures for the most famous criminals in Egypt, it'll be
both exciting and strange at the same time to hear the stories of "Raya
& Sekina" 2 sisters used to kill women to get their gold & money, & how
they finally got caught.
The
Carriage Museum, & Solyman Pasha Mosque; which was the first Ottoman
style mosque built in Egypt. In short, your trip to Salah El-din Citadel
will be very interesting & full of information, too.
Mohamed Ali Mosque:
 Mohamed
Ali Mosque is amongst the most interesting Mosques in Egypt. It stands
proudly on the highest point inside the courtyard of the Citadel of
Saladin, and is also called the Alabaster Mosque. The architect was
Yousf Boushnaq, a Turkish man who had come over from Istanbul to build
this great Mosque for Mohamed Ali, the ruler of Egypt from1805 until
1849.
He
based his plans on the Sultan Ahamed Mosque in Istanbul, and the
construction began in 1830 A.D. The work continued ceaselessly until the
death of Mohamed Ali in 1849, and had to be finished during the reign of
his successors. Mohamed Ali was buried in the tomb situated on the
south-eastern side of Beit Al Salah, on the right side of the entrance
that leads to the main section.
In 1899
the Mosque showed signs of cracking and repairs were undertaken, but
some of these repairs were not adequate. Therefore, in 1931, during the
reign of King Fuad I, a committee was set up, comprising of several
great architects, which eventually presented a report recommending the
demolition of the big main dome, the semi domes and the small domes, and
then reconstructing them according to the original design. Between 1931
and 1939, the project, including demolition, building and rebuilding,
painting and gilding, was undertaken; the total cost being 100,000 LE.
The
main material used for the construction was limestone, but the lower
parts of the Mosque, and the forecourt, are faced to a height of 11.5m
with alabaster.
The Mosque is rectangular in shape and consists of two sections:
•
The Eastern Section, which is the main section, called “Beit al Salah"
or “House of Prayer”.
• The Western Section, called the “Sahn” "or “Courtyard".
The
Eastern Section (The “Beit al Salah" or “House of Prayer”)
The
eastern section is the part that was dedicated to prayer. It is square
in shape, each side measure 41m, and has a roof with a central dome (52m
in height) resting on four large arches supported by massive piers.
Surrounding the big central dome there are four half domes, while there
are four more small domes covering the corners.
The
marble mihrab is covered by a half-dome at the lower level. The domes
are pointed and covered with medallions and other motifs. The interior
dome is impressive because of its size and shape, similar to the Mosques
of Istanbul. There are 6 medallions around the dome, which include the
names of Allah (God) and Mohamed (the Prophet), as well as the names of
the four rightly guided Caliphs, namely Abou Bakr, Omar, Othman, and
Ali.
The mosque
has 2 Minbars or pulpits; the original one is the larger, it is made of
wood decorated with gilded ornaments, while the smaller one is of
marble, it was gifted to the mosque by king Farouk in 1939 A.D.
Above
the entrance is a grand gallery supported on marble pillars with bronze
balustrade. To the right of the entrance is the tomb of Mohamed Ali. It
is made white marble covered with floral motifs, and pointed and
gilded inscriptions. originally Mohamed Ali was not buried in his
mosque but later during the time king Abbas I (1849-1854), His body was
transferred from Housh El Basha to the inside of the mosque where it
rests inside The bronze grill.
The Western Section (The Courtyard or the Sahn)
It is a
large open courtyard of about 54 m in length and 53 m in width. It is
surrounded by a single arched riwaqs or naves raised on pillars and
roofed with small domes.
In the
middle of the courtyard there is the ablution fountain, it is
octagonal in shape and covered by a large leaded domed canopy resting on
8 pillars with natural ornaments. Inside the dome is another marble
small dome and it is octagonal in shape, decorated with floral motifs.
In the walls of the riwaqs of the courtyard there are 46 widows. While
the Eastern wall which overlooks the Eastern Section, it has 8 windows
above which there is a frieze of inscription of the Koran (Surat Al Fath),
Above
the entrance to the Easter section there is frieze that bears the name
of the Turkish sultan Abd Al Maguid.
Opposite to the doorway of the prayer House, at the far end of the
centre of the NW Riwaq is a pavilion, above which is an elaborate French
Clock, presented to Mohamed Ali in 1845 by the King Luis Philip in
exchange of the obelisk which is now standing in the Concorde square in
Paris. This clock has never been working properly!
At the
west and the North Corners are 2 slender octagonal minarets that rise to
82 M in height. And has with 2 balconies.
Article 02 :
The Citadel of Saladin (EL-Qala)
The
construction of the Citadel of Saladin was started by King Saladin in
1170 A.D, and completed by his brother, King El-Addel.
It is
located on a high hill that overlooks the old city of Cairo.
Saladin
built this fortress to protect the old city of Cairo, and it mainly
consists of enclosure walls and watchtowers, as well as many, many
gates! As every 120m there are gates into the Citadel that were built at
various times in history. The architectural plan of the fortress
resembles many of the ones that were built in Syria and Palestine at the
time of the Crusades. Later on, the Citadel became a major training
centre for the Egyptian army.
The
Citadel was neglected until the Mamluke Period, in the 14th Century,
when they used it as a residence for the Sultan. Also, in that Century,
the Sultan El-Naser Mohamed added many buildings, including a Mosque,
inside the castle.
During
the Ottoman times, the Turks installed further reinforcements, and used
it as a residence for the Turkish Viceroy, as well as increasing the
number of garrisons in the Citadel.
Under
Mohamed Ali, there were other monuments added to the Citadel, among them
the great alabaster Mosque of Mohamed Ali.
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