Citadel & Old Cairo
Overview
Around 09 o’clock morning The Tour Guide will pick you up from your hotel to Visit the Christian heritage in Coptic Cairo including some of the early religious monuments of the city such as the hanging church or the suspended church this basilica church was named for its location on top of the south gate of the Fortress of Babylon the church became the center of the Christian Church of Egypt you will visit also the famous Jewish heritage in Cairo including Ben Ezra Synagogue the temple contains a Jewish heritage library, containing documents found here in 1896 that describe the economic and social conditions of Jews under Arab rule as well as descriptions of relations between various Jewish sects. Then visit the citadel of Saladin which was begun by the Kurdish ruler Salah al-Din (Saladin) between 1176 and 1183 CE in order to protect Cairo from potential Crusader attacks and to provide a secure center of government for his new regime (only a few years after he had dismantled the Fatimid Caliphate). This also emulated a feature of many Syrian cities, such as Damascus and Aleppo, which had walled citadels that acted as the seat of power and which Saladin was familiar with. Saladin also set out to build a wall, around 20 kilometers long, that would surround both Cairo and Fustat (the nearby former capital), and is recorded as saying: “With a wall I will make the two cities of Cairo and fustat into a unique whole, so that one army may defend them both; and I believe it is good to encircle them with a single wall from the bank of the Nile to the bank of the Nile.” The Citadel would be the centerpiece of the wall. While the Citadel was initially completed in 1183–1184, the wall Saladin had envisioned was still under construction in 1238, long after his death. It does not appear to have ever been fully completed after this, though long segments were built. Then you will be transferred back to your hotel.
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