Three great stone gates survive from the walls of Fatimid Cairo: Bab al-Futuh and Bab al-Nasr in the north, and Bab Zuweila in the south. Built at the end of the 11th century, they are among the finest pieces of military architecture of the medieval Islamic world.
History
When the Fatimids founded Cairo in 969 AD, they surrounded it with mud-brick walls. In 1087 to 1092 the vizier Badr al-Jamali replaced them with stone walls and gates, built by architects from northern Syria and Armenia. They were strong enough that Salah el-Din later built his own larger walls around them.
The gates
Bab al-Nasr, the Gate of Victory, has square towers, and Bab al-Futuh, the Gate of Conquests, has rounded ones. You can walk along the wall between them. Bab Zuweila, at the southern end of Al-Muizz Street, is crowned by the two minarets of the Mosque of al-Muayyad, which you can climb for one of the best views of old Cairo. For centuries it was where processions began and where executions took place.
Visiting
Allow about an hour for the walls and Bab Zuweila. The gates are part of our Islamic Cairo day tours.
