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Click on any photo to see an enlarged version.
The Northern Enclosure of Cairo's Citadel is surrounded by the Citadel's original Ayyubid walls and towers.
The twin-towered BURG AL-IMAM defended the eastern entrance of the Northern Enclosure, which was
approached by a bridge over a 16 meter-wlde moat. When the towers were first built by Salah ad-Din, they
had diameters of six meters and projected five meters from the walls. In 1207, al-Kamil encased them in
new towers that were almost twice their original size. In 1501, Sultan Ganbalat walled up the gateway and
filled its entrance court with rubble. During the Ottoman period the towers became the residence of the
imam (rector) of the Mosque of Sulayman Pasha (1528), and are still known 'the Tower of the Imam'.
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Last updated: 6/12/06