Cairo To Restore Saladin’s Citadel
As part of the Historic Cairo Rehabilitation Project, launched in 2000, Egypt’s Ministry of Antiquities will soon be accepting bids in an international competition to restore the Citadel of Saladin. To make the Medieval site more accessible to visitors, governmental officials also intend on improving signage and adding tourist facilities. Almost 1,000 years old, the Citadel was built on a hill overlooking Cairo to protect the city from crusaders; it then remained Egypt’s center of government until 1860. Today, it encompasses various historic buildings, including the imposing mosque of Mohammed Ali. Pictured is “On the Way between Old and New Cairo, Citadel Mosque of Mohammed Ali,” by Louis Comfort Tiffany, around 1872.
