The Citadel

Our afternoon class was at the Citadel, a fortress built in the 12th century by Salah al-Din on a hill overlooking Cairo . We spent most of our time in the Mohammed Ali mosque built in the 19th century  on the Citadel grounds.  It’s grand dome and spacious interior was our classroom. Heba lectured about Islam and the architecture of the mosque.  Mohammed Ali is a very important figure in recent Egyptian history.  In addition to building this dramatic mosque Ali is credited with laying the groundwork for the formation of the modern nation state of Egypt by industrializing the country, creating a common currency and many other things.