20/03/2021
Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi proceeded to construct a castle over the Mokattam Mountain in a location known as the Dome of the Air. But he did not complete it in his life. But it was completed by Sultan Al-Kamil bin Al-Adel. The first to reside in it was the full king, and he took it as a residence for the king. And it lasted so until the era of Muhammad Ali Pasha.
And in the western side of the castle, there is an inscribed door and above it an inscription indicating the construction of this castle, and its text: โIn the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. The world and the religion, Abu Al-Muzaffar Yusef bin Ayyub Muhyi, the state of the Commander of the Faithful in the eyes of his brother and Crown Prince, the just king Saif al-Din Abu Bakr Muhammad Khalil, the Commander of the Faithful, at the hands of the Emir of his kingdom, and the designator of his state, Qaraqosh Ibn Abdullah al-Maliki al-Nasiri in the year of seventy-five hundred.
And Saladin dug a well in the castle from which the army and the inhabitants of the castle could draw water if water was prevented from it when it was besieged. It is most impressed by what has been done because the well is dug into the rock at a depth of 90 meters from the level of the castleโs ground, and this requires great effort at that time.
The Citadel of Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi in Cairo is considered one of the most luxurious war castles that were built in the Middle Ages. Its strategic location is of the first degree due to the defensive importance provided by this site because it controls the cities of Cairo and Fustat, and it forms a high natural barrier between the two cities, and in this location it is possible to provide communication between The fortress and the city are in a state of siege, as it will become the last stronghold for a sit-in in the event that the city falls at the hands of the enemy.
Many and many historical events passed through this majestic castle, as its walls witnessed various historical events during the Ayyubid and Mamluk eras and the time of the French campaign against Egypt in the year 1798 AD, and until Muhammad Ali Pasha took over the rule of Egypt, where he restored its prosperity and greatness. Sultan Al-Nasir Salah al-Din Yusef bin Ayyub was the first to think of building the castle on the hill of the Sowwah in 572 AH / 1176 CE, when his minister, Baha al-Din Qaraqush al-Asadi, demolished the mosques and graves that were on the sow in order to build the castle on it, where the workers carved the rocks and found an artificial trench Separating Mokattam Mountain from Sowwah to increase its immunity and strength