The Citadel

The Saladin Citadel of Cairo is a medieval fort built on hill to protect the city of Cairo from Crusaders. The hill itself has a huge chunk missing and we were told it was used as the quarry by ancient Egyptians for limestone to build the Great Pyramids in nearby Giza.

Our guide didn't take us to the Medieval Weapons Museum in the Citadel because he said it wasn't that interesting so we spent most of our time there visiting the huge mosque of Mohammad Ali (no, not the boxer). Mohammad Ali was the viceroy of Egypt in 1805 when he helped free Egypt from French rule. The mosque was built between 1828 and 1848 and is in the middle of the Citadel. The mosque is also known as the Alabaster Mosque because it's made mostly of alabaster.

The mosque has a large courtyard with a famous clock tower. The clock tower was a gift from France. Egypt in return gave France one of the obelisks from Luxor Temple which now stands in Place de Concorde in Paris. The joke from our guide was that the clock never worked but the obelisk continues to work 4000 years after being built. The mosque inside was amazing! There were these old glass globes that were obviously lit with candles but now are all electric. There was also a huge chandelier in the middle. We were also told the rugs that lined the floor of the mosque were original from around 1840. They were a little worn but still in pretty good shape.

The mosque is open to the public but like many other religious buildings around the world they require visitors to be dressed modestly. For some reason poor Michelle was singled out and asked to wear a "cape" over her clothes. She offered to zip up her sweatshirt all the way up but that wasn't enough for the woman at the door. We also had to remove our shoes.

Click on thumbnail for a full-size picture