Cairo Citadel
Cairo Citadel قلعة صلاح الدين الأيوبي | |
---|---|
Muhammad Ali Mosque. | |
Type | Citadel |
Site information | |
Condition | Intact |
Site history | |
Built |
|
Built by |
|
In use | |
Criteria | Cultural: (i)(v)(vi) |
Designated | 1979 (3rd session) |
Part of | Historic Cairo |
Reference no. | 89-002 |
Materials | stone |
The Citadel of Cairo or Citadel of Saladin (
In addition to the initial
History
Overview
The Citadel was built on a promontory beneath the
General layout
In general, the fortress complex is divided into two parts: the Northern Enclosure (where the
To the west and southwest of the Citadel was a long open field frequently referred to as the "hippodrome" by historians or as the Maydan ("plaza" or "square").[1][7][5] For centuries this was maintained as a training ground (especially for horsemanship) and as a military parade ground. Its outline is still visible in the layout of the roads (mainly Salah ad-Din Street) on this side of the Citadel.
At the northern end of this hippodrome was another square or plaza known as Rumayla Square (Maydan/Midan Rumayla), today known as
Ayyubid foundation and construction: 12th–13th centuries
Saladin's original construction
The Citadel was begun by the
Saladin charged his chief eunuch and close confidant, Baha al-Din Qaraqush, with overseeing the construction of the new fortifications. Most of the structure was built with limestone quarried from the surrounding Muqattam Hills; however, Qaraqush also quarried a number of minor pyramids at Giza and even as far away as Abusir in order to obtain further materials.[1] He also made use of labour provided by Christian prisoners of war captured in Saladin's victories against the Crusaders.[1] The initial fortress built in Saladin's time consisted essentially of what is today's Northern Enclosure, although not all elements of the Northern Enclosure's current walls are original.[5][10] The southeast and northeast sections of these walls are likely the closest to their original forms.[1][5] Also from Saladin's time is the so-called Yusuf's Well, a deep underground well accessed through a spiral staircase which provided water for the fortress. The original southwestern section of Saladin's enclosure has disappeared but is likely to have extended around this well and around the current site of al-Nasir Muhammad's mosque (making the original enclosure slightly bigger than the existing Northern Enclosure today).[10] The carved image of a double-headed eagle, found near the top of one of the towers of the western walls (near the Police Museum), is a curious feature which is popularly attributed to Salah ad-Din's reign. It was probably located elsewhere originally and then moved here at some point when the walls were rebuilt in Muhammad Ali's time.[7][6] The eagle's heads are missing today, but their original appearance was noted by chroniclers.[7]: 24
Only one original gate, Bab al-Mudarraj, has survived to the present day. It is located along the walls of the Northern Enclosure, nowadays between the Harem Palace (National Military Museum) and the newer Bab al-Jadid gate. It was originally the main gate of the Citadel, but today it is obscured by later constructions from
Construction under Saladin's successors
Construction of the Ayyubid Citadel appears to have continued under Sultan al-'Adil (r. 1200–1218), Saladin's brother and later successor, and was probably finished under the reign of al-Kamil (1218–1238).[4] Al-'Adil had already supervised some of the construction under Saladin, while al-Kamil in turn probably worked on the Citadel during al-'Adil's reign when the latter gave him the viceroyship of Egypt in 1200 (a prelude to becoming sultan later).[10] The rounded towers in the outer walls of the Northern Enclosure date from Saladin's initial construction while the large rectangular towers date to al-Adil's reign.[1] The two large round towers in the far northeastern corner of the enclosure, known as Burj al-Ramla ("Tower of Sand") and Burj al-Hadid ("Tower of Iron") are towers from Saladin's time which al-Kamil subsequently reinforced in 1207.[5]
More significantly, al-Kamil built or completed the palaces in the southern section of the Citadel, and became the first ruler to actually move there in 1206.
Sultan
Mamluk period: 13th–16th centuries
Early Bahri Mamluk period
Under the early
Sultan
Sultan
The reign of Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad
The greatest builder of the Citadel during the Mamluk period was
In 1312 al-Nasir also ordered the renovation of the water aqueduct which brought water from the Nile to the Citadel. His predecessor, al-Ashraf, is responsible for building an octagonal water intake tower on the shores of the Nile, from which water was raised and transferred along the aqueduct, but al-Nasir completed the project.[10] This improvement of the infrastructure allowed him in turn to embark on more ambitious projects within the Citadel.
The Ablaq Palace (Qasr al-Ablaq)
Among the most important constructions was the Ablaq Palace (Qasr al-Ablaq; sometimes translated as the "Striped Palace"), built in 1313–1314. Its name derived from the red-and-black ablaq masonry that marked its exterior.[10] It may have been partly inspired by the palace of the same name that Sultan Baybars had built in Damascus in 1264 and in which al-Nasir resided when he visited that city.[7] The palace was used for regular receptions and private ceremonies. It was connected to the Great Iwan (see below) by a private passage or corridor which led to the sultan's entrance in the back wall of the Iwan. The walls of the palace itself formed a part of the new outer boundary of the Citadel's enclosure: it was located on an escarpment overlooking the city below, and the escarpment, along with the foundation walls of the palace, acted as the effective outer wall of the Citadel at its western corner. Because of this, al-Nasir was able to build a loggia on the side of the palace from which he could freely observe the activities in the stables and in the maydan (hippodrome) at the foot of the Citadel below, as well as a private door and staircase which gave him direct access between the palace and the hippodrome.[1][10]
The interior layout of the palace consisted of a large qa'a (reception hall) courtyard with two unequal iwans (vaulted chambers open on one side) facing each other and a central dome in the middle. The larger iwan, on the northwestern side, gave access to the outside loggia with views of the city, while the southeastern one gave access to the private passage to the Great Iwan. This also served as the throne room of the palace complex. From here one could access three "inner palaces" with the same layout but located on different levels, with the last two reached by stairs. These palace sections were lined up in a row and all faced in the same direction, apparently so that every qa'a had a similar view of the city from its northwestern iwan. From these inner palaces the Sultan could also access the buildings of his harem (where his wives and concubines lived) in the southeastern part of the Citadel.[7] According to historical chronicles, the palace complex was richly decorated with marble floors, marble and gold paneling (dadoes), windows of coloured glass from Cyprus, Arabic inscriptions, colorful mosaics with mother-of-pearl that featured floral patterns, and gilded ceilings painted in lapis lazuli blue.[7]: 202–203
The location where the palace once stood has not been identified beyond doubt.
The Great Iwan (al-Iwan al-Kabir)
Al-Nasir demolished, yet again, the Iwan al-Ashrafiyya (throne hall) of his brother al-Ashraf in 1311, and replaced it with his own structure known as the Great Iwan (al-Iwan al-Kabir). This may have been out of a desire to make it appear even more prominent and monumental, as well as to perhaps accommodate larger ceremonies.[10] In any case, he demolished it (either entirely or in part) and rebuilt it yet again in 1333, and it is this incarnation of the Great Iwan which survived up until the 19th century (when it was destroyed during Muhammad Ali's constructions). It was frequently cited by chroniclers as the most impressive structure in Cairo, more monumental than almost any of the Mamluk mosques.[1] It served as the sultan's public and ceremonial throne room and continued to be used (albeit less consistently) by Mamluk sultans after him.[7]
Al-Nasir Muhammad's Mosque
Lastly, al-Nasir's other most notable contribution, and the only major structure of his reign still preserved at the Citadel, was the
Later Mamluk period
Subsequent sultans continued to build or add to the palaces and administrative buildings inside the Citadel, though rarely with the same ambition as al-Nasir Muhammad. Sultan
The
Ottoman period: 16th–18th centuries
Egypt was conquered by the Ottoman Empire in 1517 and remained under Ottoman rule for centuries. Sultan Selim I stripped the monumental Mamluk buildings of their precious materials, especially their marble panels and decoration, and shipped them to Istanbul for use in his own building projects.[7]
During this period the Citadel was neglected and many Mamluk structures fell into ruin, although some of the Citadel walls were rebuilt or extended in the 16th–17th centuries.
Some notable structures were still created during this period. The huge round tower near the visitor entrance today, standing at the corner of the Southern and Northern Enclosures, was built by
Muhammad Ali: 19th-century
The Citadel is sometimes referred to as the "Citadel of Muhammad Ali" (
Another obvious change that Muhammad Ali enacted pertained to the uses of the Citadel's northern and southern enclosures: during the Mamluk period the Southern Enclosure was the royal residential area and the Northern Enclosure was mostly military, but Muhammad Ali built his Harem Palace (which now houses the National Military Museum) in the Northern Enclosure, erasing the old functional division between the two sections of the Citadel.[4] He also built or rebuilt some of the walls. Notably, he rebuilt the Bab al-Qulla gate and the surrounding wall which separated the Northern and Southern enclosures from each other, giving it its current look. The gate's form today once again emulates the appearance of Bab al-Futuh but introduces some Turkish elements.[4] In 1825 he also built the gate known as Bab al-Jadid (the "New Gate") at the point where a new carriage road entered the Citadel from the north.[4] Around the same time he built the Bab al-Wastani (or Bab al-Wustani) ("Middle Gate") where the same road continues into the Southern Enclosure (just north of the Bab al-Qulla).[18]
The Citadel eventually ceased to act as the residence of Egypt's ruler after
20th century and present day
For many years up to the late 20th century, the Citadel was closed to the public and used as a military garrison and base; at first by the British Army during the British occupation and afterward up to 1946, and since then by the Egyptian military.[4] In 1983, the Egyptian government opened a large part of the Citadel to the public and initiated refurbishment programs to convert some of its old buildings into museums, though the military retains a presence. It is now a major tourist site for both Egyptians and foreigners alike.[5][20]
Water supply system
Yusuf's Well (Salah ad-Din's Well)
To supply water to the Citadel, Saladin built an 85-metre-deep (280 ft)[21] well known as the Well of Joseph (or Bir Yusuf), so-called because Saladin's birth name, Yūsif, is the Arabic equivalent of Joseph. His chief eunuch and confidant, Qaraqush, who oversaw construction of the Citadel, was also responsible for digging the well. The well is considered a masterpiece of medieval engineering and still exists today.[4] Its shaft was divided into two sections, almost all of which is cut out of the rock itself. The upper part has a wider shaft which is surrounded by a long spiral staircase, separated from the main shaft only by a thin wall of rock. For this reason, the well is also known as the Spiral Well (Bir al-Halazon).[4] The stairs could be covered with earth to make it into a ramp for oxen to travel down to its bottom.[5] The lower part of the well was another shaft descending to the level of underground water seeping in from the Nile. At the bottom of the upper section, two oxen turned a waterwheel that brought the water up from the bottom of the well, while another waterwheel at the top of the well, also powered by oxen, brought the water up the rest of the way.[4]
The Mamluk Aqueduct
During the reign of
The Cistern of Ya'qub Shah al-Mihmandar
This small domed building just outside the Citadel to the east was built in 1495–96 by an
Mosques
There are four main mosques in the Citadel today, some of which are open to visitors:
Mosque of Muhammad Ali
The mosque was built between 1830 and 1848, although not completed until the reign of
Al-Nasir Muhammad Mosque
Built in 1318, during the early
Mosque of Sulayman Pasha
Built in 1528, it was first of the Citadel's Ottoman-style mosques and is one of the few structures in Cairo closely resembling the "classical" Ottoman style of the 16th century. It is located in the Northern Enclosure, just northeast of the Harim Palace (Military Museum). It was built on the ruins of the earlier Mosque of Sidi Sariyya built by Abu-Mansur Qasta, an amir in the Fatimid era (predating the Citadel). Qasta's tomb, dated to 1140 CE, still exists in the mosque today.[7]
Mosque of al-'Azab
This lesser-known mosque is situated right behind the main western gate, Bab al-'Azab. Both are named after the Ottoman military regiments known as
Museums
The Citadel also contains several museums:
Al-Gawhara Palace Museum
Also known as Bijou Palace, is a palace and museum commissioned by Muhammad Ali Pasha in 1814. The palace was designed and constructed by artisans contracted from a variety of countries, including Greeks, Turks, Bulgarians and Albanians.[25] Muhammad Ali's official divan or audience hall, where the pasha received guests, contains a 1,000 kg chandelier sent to him by Louis Philippe I of France. The palace also contains the throne of Muhammad Ali Pasha that was a gift from the King of Italy.[25]
Carriage Museum
Inaugurated in 1983, it houses a collection of unique Royal Carriages attributed to different historical periods, from the reign of
Egyptian Military museum
The official museum of the Egyptian Army. The museum was established in 1937 at the old building of the Egyptian Ministry of War in downtown Cairo. It was later moved to a temporary location in the Garden City district of Cairo. In November 1949 the museum was moved to the Harem Palace at the Cairo citadel. It has been renovated several times since, in 1982 and 1993.[26]
Police Museum
The museum (also sometimes referred to as the Prison Museum) is just north of the gate known as Bab al-'Alam, on a terrace commanding sweeping views of the city below. It is housed in the Citadel's former prison and contains exhibits on topics such as famous political assassinations and displays of the murder weapon used.[20]
Notes
- ^ This site was originally identified by excavators as a part of the Qasr al-Ablaq (Ablaq Palace) of al-Nasir Muhammad, but Nasser Rabbat argued against this interpretation and identified it as the Qa'a al-Ashrafiyya; see Rabat (1995), The Citadel of Cairo: A New Interpretation of Royal Mamluk Architecture, and Abdulfattah & Sakr (2012), Glass Mosaics in a Royal Mamluk Hall. For more info on al-Nasir Muhammad's palace, see relevant sub-section in this article.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Raymond, André (1993). Le Caire. Fayard.
- ^ UNESCO, Decision Text, World Heritage Centre, retrieved 21 July 2017
- ^ Raymond, Andre (2001). Cairo. trans. by Willard Wood. Harvard University Press. pp. 85–132.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Rabbat, Nasser (1989). The Citadel of Cairo. Geneva: The Aga Khan Trust for Culture.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Williams, Caroline (2018). Islamic Monuments in Cairo: The Practical Guide. Cairo: The American University in Cairo Press.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Behrens-Absouseif, Doris (1989). Islamic Architecture in Cairo: An Introduction. Leiden, the Netherlands: E.J. Brill. pp. 78–85.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Rabat, Nasser O. (1995). The Citadel of Cairo: A New Interpretation of Royal Mamluk Architecture. E.J. Brill.
- ISBN 978-0-8108-8025-2.
- ISBN 978-1-905214-01-3.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v Rabat, Nasser (1991). The Citadel of Cairo, 1176-1341: reconstructing architecture from texts. Ph.D. thesis, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Architecture.
- ^ a b Abdulfattah, Iman R. and Mamdouh Mohamed Sakr (2012), "Glass Mosaics in a Royal Mamluk Hall: Context, Content, and Interpretation", in Doris Behrens-Abouseif (ed.), The Arts of the Mamluks in Egypt and Syria – Evolution and Impact (Bonn: Bonn University Press), pp. 203-222.
- ^ Levanoni, Amalia (1995). A Turning Point in Mamluk History: The Third Reign of al-Nasir Muhammad Ibn Qalawun (1310-1341). E.J. Brill. pp. 156–158.
- ^ a b c Rabbat, Nasser O. (1995). The Citadel of Cairo: A New Interpretation of Royal Mamluk Architecture. E.J. Brill. pp. 207–213.
- ^ Creswell, K. A. C. (1959). Muslim Architecture of Egypt. Vol. 2. Oxford. pp. 262–263.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ a b Kahil, Abdallah (2006). "The Architect/s of the Sultan Ḥasan Complex in Cairo". Artibus Asiae. 66 (2): 155–174 – via JSTOR.
- ^ Al-Harithy, Howyda N. (1996). "The Complex of Sultan Hasan in Cairo: Reading between the Lines". Muqarnas. 13: 69–79 – via JSTOR.
- ^ a b Behren-Abouseif, Doris (2007). Cairo of the Mamluks: A History of its Architecture and its Culture. The American University in Cairo Press.
- ^ a b Lyster, William (1993). The Citadel of Cairo: A History and Guide. The Palm Press.
- ^ a b "The Mosque of Muhammad Ali (history)". Archived from the original on 2006-02-07.
- ^ a b Lonely Planet: Egypt (13th ed.). Lonely Planet. 2018.
- ^ Ripley, George; Dana, Charles A., eds. (1873). "Cairo". American Cyclopaedia. D. Appleton And Company.
- ^ Torky, Tarek (2019). "Aqueduct". Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers. Retrieved November 1, 2019.
- ^ Blue Guide Egypt - Second Edition, 1988
- ISBN 978-1-905214-01-3.
- ^ ISBN 0-8109-5538-5. Photographs by Sherif Sonbol
- ^ "Egypt Military Museum in the Citadel". Ask-aladdin. Retrieved 2 March 2013.