Cairo Citadel of Saladin

The Citadel of Saladin is a fortress on the Mokattam hills in eastern Cairo, founded in 1176 and topped by the Mosque of Muhammad Ali. A foreign adult ticket costs about 450 EGP and covers the mosques and museums inside; it opens daily 9 am – 5 pm.

Salah al-Din (Saladin) began the Citadel in 1176 as the new fortified base of his Ayyubid sultanate, and Egypt was governed from here without a break until the 19th century: by Ayyubids, Mamluks, Ottomans and finally Muhammad Ali Pasha. It sits on a spur of the Mokattam Hills, and on a clear day the view runs all the way to the Pyramids of Giza.

Four layers of history share the space inside the walls. The Mosque of Muhammad Ali (1830–1848), with Istanbul-style domes and two slender minarets, built of limestone faced with alabaster, is the outline everyone recognises. Behind it are the Mamluk Mosque of al-Nasir Muhammad (1318) with its blue-tiled minarets, the Mosque of Sulayman Pasha (Egypt's first Ottoman mosque, 1528), and several museums (military, royal carriages and police) set up in old barracks. You can also see the medieval Well of Yusuf, cut 87 m down through solid rock to keep the fortress supplied with water under siege.

What to see

• Mosque of Muhammad Ali, an alabaster Ottoman showpiece
• Mosque of al-Nasir Muhammad, the only Mamluk royal mosque surviving in the Citadel
• Sulayman Pasha Mosque, Egypt's first Ottoman dome
• The National Military Museum, the Police Museum and the Royal Carriages Museum
• The view over Cairo from the western terrace

Visiting

• Opening hours: 9 am – 5 pm daily
• Tickets: about 450 EGP for foreign adults, including the mosques and the museums in the grounds
• Dress: modest for the mosques; head-covers are loaned at the door
• Best time: late afternoon for golden-hour views, staying until sunset
• Nearby: Salah al-Din Square, al-Saliba Street