The Citadel is a walled compound built on the hills on the outskirts of Cairo.<\/p>\n
It started out as a small pavilion built in the early 800’s.<\/p>\n
It was fortified and made into a fortress and royal city by Salah Al Din (aka “Saladin”) in the late We visited with a group of the ALI (Arabic Learning Institute). The guide is a professor of Islamic Art. She has an astounding knowledge of the history of architecture and art in the Islamic world, and Cairo in particular.<\/p>\n We usually jump at the chance to go on one of her tours.<\/p>\n We toured all the mosques and other buildings, in chronological order, inside the Citadel. Some guide books play down the citadel as uninspiring and even a waste of time with all the other things to see in Cairo. I can see that if you were to go to the Citadel without a guide, or at least a good guide book.<\/p>\n Our guide greatly enriched our experience.<\/p>\n1700s<\/strike> 1100s [Thank you Kelley]
\nMore details and history can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n