Bab Zuweila — Attraction in Cairo

Out of the three Fatimid gates that remained standing nowadays, Bab Zuwayla is the most dramatic, with its crowning fifteen-century minarets. It leads the visitors to a bazaar quarter that is as full of life today as it was in the Middle Age. In the early Mameluke period, the sultans used to sit on the platform between the two towers to watch the procession of the Mahmal, the ceremonial palanquin that accompanied the annual pilgrimage caravan to Mecca. However, this gate was also a place for public executions, and the heads of criminals were displayed above the gates on spikes. Even Tumanbay, the last Mameluke sultan of Egypt was hanged here in 1517, after the country's conquest by the Ottomans. Tumanbay’s rope broke on the first two attempts before his luck ran out. His body remained suspended from the gate for three days and then was buried. The views from towers are spectacular, although part of the neighborhood is...

The remains of an ancient city wall containing two minarets that you can climb (for the adventurous!). Various signs describe the history of the wall, various modifications made over the centuries, and renovations to restore the original doors which were buried 1.5 meters and had an innovative (for the time) mechanism to allow them to swing with little effort. The climb up the minarets starts with stone steps that occasionally plunge you into total darkness. To get to the very top you have to transition from solid stone steps to thin metal bars with no support but a rickety central pole. At least one of the side rails comes loose from the wall if you grab it. At the top you have to crawl through an opening into a narrow balcony with low walls. It'll make you sweat, but the view is spectacular! You can climb both towers but the view is similar from both, so if you had a tough time with one then you can...

Bab Zuwayla is composed of two massive circular towers that descend three meters below the present level of the street, connected by a bridge that arches at the bottom to hold the two wooden leaves of the gate, Between the towers, one passes beneath a shallow dome carried by four large arches. This passageway, today a section of a busy street, leads into the area of the original tenth-century city. The northem facade of Bab Zuwayla consists of a masonry wall topped by a main platform nearly nine meters above the present street level. The southern side of this main platform has three arched openings, above which is set another platform. The original access to the upper stories of Bab Zuwayta was from an L shaped staircase hidden behind the connecting city wall. Remains of this staircase still exist today. A new staircase, which visitors use today, was built in the...