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Cairo · Citadel, Darb el-Ahmar

Bab al-Azab

The Citadel's lower gate, restored and reopened after two centuries closed.

€ BudgetOff the beaten track

Mamluks rode up to the Citadel through this sunken passage, and it is where the 1811 massacre trapped them. Closed ever since, the gate and its ramp have been restored and given back to walkers: you reach the Citadel from below, on foot, as people once did.

The extra bit

Go up through Bab al-Azab and come down by the modern gate: the only way to grasp the site's topography.

Know before you go

The ramp is cobbled and steep: closed shoes, and twenty minutes to climb.

Directions

Foot of the Citadel, Salah el-Din square, Cairo

Directions

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