Islamic Cairo
Cairo's equivalent of the Moscow Kremlin, the Citadel was home to the city's rulers for some 700 years. Built by Saladin in 1176, the fortified complex is divided into three vast enclosures, containing mosques, museums, battlements and residential buildings, dating from the 12th to the 19th centuries. This photograph shows part of the qibla (wall indicating the direction of Mecca) of the prayer hall of the Mosque of Sultan al-Nasr, built between 1318 and 1335; it was the only Mamluke building inside the Citadel left standing by Mohammed Ali.
Islamic Cairo
Cairo's equivalent of the Moscow Kremlin, the Citadel was home to the city's rulers for some 700 years. Built by Saladin in 1176, the fortified complex is divided into three vast enclosures, containing mosques, museums, battlements and residential buildings, dating from the 12th to the 19th centuries. This photograph shows part of the qibla (wall indicating the direction of Mecca) of the prayer hall of the Mosque of Sultan al-Nasr, built between 1318 and 1335; it was the only Mamluke building inside the Citadel left standing by Mohammed Ali.