7 Best Sights in The Citadel, Cairo

Constructed between 1356 and 1363 by the Mamluk ruler Sultan Hassan, this is one of the world's largest Islamic religious buildings. Some historians believe it was partially built with stone from the Pyramids of Giza. Regardless, creating it nearly emptied the vast Mamluk treasury.

You enter the complex at an angle through a tall portal that is itself a work of art. The carving on both sides culminates in a series of stalactites above. A dark and relatively low-ceilinged passageway to the left of the entrance leads to the brightly lit main area—a standard cruciform-plan open court.

Unique to this mosque is a madrasa between each of the four liwans (halls), one for each of the four Sunni schools of jurisprudence, complete with its own courtyard and four stories of rooms for students and teachers. Also unique is the location of the mausoleum behind the qibla wall (wall in the direction of Mecca) which, in effect, forces people who are praying to bow before the tomb of the dead sultan—a fairly heretical idea to devout Muslims. Nevertheless, the mausoleum, which faces Salah al-Din Square, is quite beautiful, particularly in the morning when the rising sun filters through grilled windows.

Of the two tall minarets, only the one to the left of the qibla liwan is structurally sound. Have the custodian take you up to get a view of the city, including the Citadel. In fact, this roof was used by several armies, Bonaparte's expedition included, to shell the mountain fortress.

This huge congregational mosque was built in 879 by Ahmad Ibn Tulun with the intention of accommodating his entire army during Friday prayers. He was sent to Egypt by the Abbasid caliph in Samarra to serve as its governor. Sensing weakness in Iraq, he declared his independence and began building a new city, al-Qata'i, northwest of al-Fustat and al-Askar. When the Abbasids conquered Egypt again in 970, they razed the entire city as a lesson to future rebels, sparing only the great Friday mosque, but leaving it to wither on the outskirts.

In 1293, emir Lajin hid out in the derelict building for several months while a fugitive from the Mamluk sultan, vowing to restore it if he survived. Three years later, after being appointed sultan himself, he kept his word, repairing the minaret and adding a fountain in the courtyard, the mihrab (prayer niche), and the beautiful minbar (pulpit). All of this background is secondary to the building itself—you can delight in this masterpiece without even the slightest knowledge of its history. Its grandeur and simplicity set it apart from any other Islamic monument in Cairo.

The mosque is separated from the streets around it with a ziyada (a walled-off space) in which the Friday market was once held and where the famous minaret is located. Inside, the mosque covers an area of more than 6 acres. Four arcaded aisles surround the vast courtyard, and the soffits of the arches are covered in beautifully carved stucco—the first time this medium was used in Cairo. The minaret, the only one of its kind in Egypt, is modeled after those in Samarra, with the ziggurat-like stairs spiraling on the outside of the tower.

Local rulers had long overlooked the strategic value of the hill above the city, but, within a few years of his arrival in 1168, Salah al-Din al-Ayyub began creating defense plans with the Citadel at their center. He and his successors built an impenetrable bastion using the most advanced construction techniques of the age, and, for the next 700 years, Egypt was ruled from this hill. Nothing remains of the original complex except a part of the Ayyubid walls—33 feet (10 meters) tall and 10 feet (3 meters) thick—and the Bir Youssef (Youssef Well), which was dug 285 feet (87 meters) straight into solid rock to reach the water table and is still considered an engineering marvel.

In the 1330s, most of the Ayyubid buildings were replaced by Mamluk structures. After assuming power in 1805, Muhammad Ali had all the Mamluk buildings razed and the complex entirely rebuilt. Only the green-domed mosque and a fragment of the Qasr al-Ablaq (Striped Palace) remain.

For more than 150 years, the Mosque of Muhammad Ali has dominated the City's skyline. Although Ottoman law prohibited anyone but the sultan from building a mosque with more than one minaret, this mosque has two, one of the first indications that Muhammad Ali wouldn't remain submissive to Istanbul. Note the spacious courtyard's gilded clock tower, which was provided by King Louis Philippe in exchange for the obelisk that stands in Paris. It’s fair to say that the French got the better end of the bargain: the clock has never worked.

Behind Muhammad Ali stands the Mosque of al-Nasir Muhammad, a Mamluk work of art with beautifully crafted masonry, elegant proportions, and a minaret featuring ornate but refined details. Ottomans took much of the original interior decoration to Istanbul, but the space is nevertheless impressive. The courtyard's supporting columns were collected from various sources; several are pharaonic.

Across from al-Nasir's entrance is the National Police Museum, worth a quick visit to see the exhibition on Egypt's political assassinations and to enjoy the spectacular view from the courtyard. The enclosure directly below, gated by Bab al-Azab, is where Muhammad Ali wrested control from the Mamluk chiefs. (He invited them to a banquet and had them ambushed by a battalion, ending their dominion in Egypt and eliminating all internal opposition in a single stroke.) To the northwest of al-Nasir, the gate known as Bab al-Qulla opens to the Qusur al-Harem (Harem Palace), now the site of the National Military Museum, with somewhat interesting displays of uniforms and weaponry.

Farther west, the Carriage Museum, the dining hall of British officers stationed at the Citadel in the early 20th century, now houses eight conveyances used by Egypt's last royal dynasty (1805–1952). In the northwest part of the Citadel is the rarely visited Sulayman Pasha Mosque built in 1528. While its plan is entirely a product of Istanbul, the sparse stone decoration shows traces of Mamluk influence.

Before leaving the Citadel, pass by the Qasr al-Gawhara (Jewel Palace), where Muhammad Ali received guests. It's now a museum displaying the royal family's extravagance and preference for early 19th-century French style.

Although it appears neo-Mamluk in style, this mosque was not commissioned until 1869 by the mother of Khedive Isma'il, Princess Hoshiyar. It was completed in 1912 but, from the outside, seems more timeworn and less modern than the 14th-century Mosque of Sultan Hassan beside it. True to the extravagant khedivial tastes, the inside is markedly different from that of its neighboring mosque as well. While the latter is relatively unadorned, al-Rifa'i is lavishly decorated. The mausoleum here contains the bodies of Sufi holy men of the Rifa'i order (hence the establishment's name), as well as the remains of many royals.

Also known as Bayt al-Kiritliya (House of the Cretan Woman), the museum consists of two Ottoman houses joined together, restored, and furnished by Major Gayer-Anderson, a British member of Egypt’s civil service in the '30s and '40s. The house is adorned with lovely pieces of pharaonic, Islamic, and Central Asian art, and a few oddities here and there. The reception room features a mosaic fountain at the center of an ornate marble floor, and the courtyard of the east house has the "Well of Bats," the subject of much storytelling in the neighborhood. James Bond’s The Spy Who Loved Me was partially shot in the reception hall and on the rooftop terrace. The house also inspired Gayer-Anderson's grandson, Theo, to become an art conservationist, and he was involved in the restoration of Bab Zuweila.

This mosque and khanqah (shrine) were built by the commander in chief of Sultan Hassan's forces. The khanqah has a central courtyard surrounded by three floors where 150 rooms once housed 700 Sufi adherents. As in the mosque, classical pillars support the ground-floor arches. Tuman bay II, the last Mamluk sultan, hid here during the Ottoman conquest, so the mosque was badly damaged by shelling. Nevertheless, its qibla liwan (hall in the direction of Mecca) still has its original marble inlay work. To the left of it are the tombs of Shaykhu and the first director of the school. Today, this is an active neighborhood mosque.

Equally as fascinating as the displays on Egyptian architecture, arranged chronologically, is the 18th-century structure containing them. It's one of the best-preserved Islamic houses in Cairo, greatly influenced by the Ottoman and Mamluk styles. It was originally known as Ali Labib House, but came to be known as the House of the Artists, having been home to many local and international artists, including the renowned Egyptian architect, Hassan Fathi. The museum also conducts workshops and hosts lectures and cultural events.