Islam was introduced into the country very early.  20 years after the message had started in Arabia, It reached Egypt. Several Muslim dynasties ruled , amongst was the Ayobead (Selah El Din family). This dedicated warrior was the one bravely  protected Egypt from the Crusaders invasion in the 12th. With his noble attitude he gained the respect of his worst enemy "Richard The Lion-Heart".  later in his life he built this Citadel to be the royal residence of the dynasty and  later ones till the 19th century.

Citadel

Although it has been built by Selah El Din in the 12^th c., it has been the nerve of life for more than 700years during the Islamic era. acknowledge the ruling place, Succors of Selah El Din ruled from the same place till  Ismael Pasha from Mohamed Ali Family built the place of Abdein as another royal residence. Mohamed Ali ruled, & lived in the citadel. He built his fancy mosque in the citadel, famous as the  alabaster mosque. It has the largest number of domes in mosque in Egypt (90 Domes). It is unique design makes it a miniature of the blue mosque in Istanbul.

The ceiling is richly decorated with Rococo art, and geld with 24 karat gold. Estimated to be today’s value 500,000 Egyptian pounds.

Originally the mosque was lit by candles and electrified during the first restoration by Abbass Pasha. The total number of bulbs in various mosque's Chandeliers is 418.the middle chandelier weighs 1.5tones.

The ablution fountain in the middle of the 

outer courtyard was made for worshipper to wash 

before the 5 times daily prayers was made in alabaster with gold . Under the mosque court yard the architect built a big cistern that stores up to 48000 cubic M. fresh water was supplied by an aqua duct during the Nile flood time. it kept functioning till the 19th C.

The art work in the bronze windows in the palace testifies for the skill of those workers that some of them were restricted to the Royal family.

  The 86 meters Mohamed Ali's minaret was the highest minaret in the world for 2 centuries.  ascended by 256 steps. It would be killing for the caller for prayer (Moaazen) to climb them up and down 5 times a day to do his job.

The citadel walls offer a fantastic panoramic view of Cairo and Giza highlights. From certain angels you could see the pyramids, the Cairo tower, many hotels, the palace of Abdein, Al Azhar & Al Hussein mosques, Sakkara & Dahshour pyramids. This square (shown in pic) of Selah El din was the starting point for the silk cover of "Kaaba" (house of God) in "Mecca" that used to be sent from 14C till 1968 when president Nasser gave orders to stop such a tradition. We invite you to listen to the full story.