Name of Monument:

Towers of the Citadel of Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi: Burg al-Ramla and Burg al-Haddad

Location:

The two towers Burg al-Ramla and Burg al-Haddad are located in the northeastern corner of the eastern rampart of the Citadel of Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi, known also as Citadel of the Mountain (Qala’a al-Jabal), in the area of the soldiers’ barracks in the northeastern, military enclosure, of the citadel, Cairo, Egypt

Date of Monument:

Hegira 579 / AD 1184

Architect(s) / master-builder(s):

The commander, Baha’ al-Din Qaraqush al-Asadi supervised the building.

Period / Dynasty:

Ayyubid

Patron(s):

Al-Malik al-Nasir Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi (known also as Saladin, r. AH 564–89 / AD 1169–93).

Description:

Located in the walls of the Citadel of Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi, also known as Citadel of the Mountain (Qala'a al-Jabal), both towers, Burg al-Ramla and Burg al-Haddad, are composed of three storeys reaching a height of 20.80 m. The ground plan of each assumes the shape of a three-quarter circle. They are both built of stone with a rough surface and depressed cavities. Burg al-Hadad is distinctive from Burg al-Ramla and the remaining towers of the citadel, by the presence of four Saqatat, stone balconies which project from the wall of the tower and which are borne by stone brackets. The balconies do not have floors in order to make it easier for the defenders of the citadel to throw inflamed substances and boiling oil onto the enemy. The oldest remaining example of this type of defensive strategy (Saqata) is seen in Qasr al-Hayr al-Sharqi in northern Syria and dates back to the Umayyad Caliph, Hisham ibn Abd al-Malik (r. AH 105–25 / AD 724–43). This component of fort towers then appeared subsequently in the Atabeg and Ayyubid periods during the Crusades in the Levant, and in the Mamluk period in the Citadel of Qaytbay in Alexandria.
The Mamluk sultans used the towers of the citadel and the surrounding area to house their soldiers. The Circassian Mamluks known also as Burji Mamluks (r. AH 784–922 / 1382–1517) were interested in fortification works and the construction of towers, in particular Burg al-Ramla and Burg al-Haddad. There are three marble panels fixed to the right-hand wall of the entrance to the old gate of the citadel, Bab al-Mudarraj – this gate was built by Salah al-Din Ayyubi (Saladin) and is located on the southern wall of the northeastern military section – which bear historical texts indicating that the fortification works, the construction and the renovation were undertaken by three of the Circassian Mamluk sultans. They were Jaqmaq (r. AH 842–57 / AD 1438–53), Qaytbay (r. AH 872–901 / AD 1468–96) and al-'Adil Tumanbay (r. AH 906 / AD 1501).

The two huge towers are located in the northeastern corner of the eastern rampart of the Citadel of Salah al-Din (Saladin) connected by a covered passage. They served as barracks for the Circassian Mamluks in the reign of Sultan Qalawun, who were nicknamed Burji Mamluks.

How Monument was dated:

The towers were dated based on the foundation plaque in the Qala'a al-Jabal, which was placed on Bab al-Mudarraj and which bears the name of the builder and the year of construction. Historical studies of the monuments conducted by the archaeologists, Casanova in 1894–97 and Creswell in 1924, demonstrated, however, that the northern walls of the citadel and the towers within it, go back (most of them) to the period of al-Nasir Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi (Saladin, r. AH 564–89 / AD 1169–93).

Selected bibliography:

Al-Maqrizi, Taqi al-Din Ahmad (d. 845 /1442), Al Mawa'iz wa al–Itibar Bi Dhikr al-Khitat wa al–Athar [Exhortations and Contemplation of the recollection of Plans and Monuments], Cairo, 1853.
Casanova, P., “Histoire et Description de la Citadelle du Caire”, Mémoires de la Mission Archéologique Française du Caire, No. 6, Paris, 1897.
Creswell, K. A. C., Muslim Architecture of Egypt, Vol. II, Oxford, 1960.
Rabbat, N., The Citadel of Cairo: A New Interpretation of Royal Mamluk Architecture, Leiden, 1995.
Zaki, Abd al-Rahman, Qala'a Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi wa ma hawlaha min al-Athar [Citadel of Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi and the Surrounding Monuments], Cairo, 1971.

Citation of this web page:

Tarek Torky "Towers of the Citadel of Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi: Burg al-Ramla and Burg al-Haddad" in Discover Islamic Art, Museum With No Frontiers, 2026. 2026.
https://islamicart.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=monument;ISL;eg;Mon01;9;en

Prepared by: Tarek TorkyTarek Torky

Tarek Abdel Aziz Torky holds a BA in Islamic and Coptic Antiquities from Cairo University (1982). He is currently Head of the Statistics Department at the Information Centre of the Supreme Council of Antiquities and reporter of the committee set up to prepare for the celebrations of the centennial of the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo. As Expo Curator for the Discover Islamic Art project in Egypt he prepared the database information for the Egyptian monuments included in the project and participated in formulating the dynastic and cross-dynastic exhibitions. He has participated in the first phase of the Islamic Art in the Mediterranean project as product manager and prepared the texts and photos for the catalogue Mamluk Art: the Splendour and Magic of the Sultans (MWNF, 2001). In 2002 he obtained a scholarship for Med. Master on new technologies for valorisation and management of Mediterranean Cultural Heritage in Ravello, Salerno.
Copyedited by: Majd Musa
Translation by: Amal Sachedina (from the Arabic).
Translation copyedited by: Mandi GomezMandi Gomez

Amanda Gomez is a freelance copy-editor and proofreader working in London. She studied Art History and Literature at Essex University (1986–89) and received her MA (Area Studies Africa: Art, Literature, African Thought) from SOAS in 1990. She worked as an editorial assistant for the independent publisher Bellew Publishing (1991–94) and studied at Bookhouse and the London College of Printing on day release. She was publications officer at the Museum of London until 2000 and then took a role at Art Books International, where she worked on projects for independent publishers and arts institutions that included MWNF’s English-language editions of the books series Islamic Art in the Mediterranean. She was part of the editorial team for further MWNF iterations: Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean Virtual Museum and the illustrated volume Discover Islamic Art in the Mediterranean.

True to its ethos of connecting people through the arts, MWNF has provided Amanda with valuable opportunities for discovery and learning, increased her editorial experience, and connected her with publishers and institutions all over the world. More recently, the projects she has worked on include MWNF’s Sharing History Virtual Museum and Exhibition series, Vitra Design Museum’s Victor Papanek and Objects of Desire, and Haus der Kulturen der Welt’s online publication 2 or 3 Tigers and its volume Race, Nation, Class.

MWNF Working Number: ET 09