Historic Cairo · city defences

The Fatimid Walls and Gates of Cairo

History of Fatimid Cairo’s walls and surviving gates, including the rebuilding under Badr al-Jamali in 1087.

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From mudbrick to stone

The earliest city walls were commissioned by Jawhar al-Siqilli under al-Muʿizz when Cairo was founded in 969. In 1087, the Fatimid vizier Badr al-Jamali commissioned the expansion and rebuilding of the walls in stone. The surviving northern and southern gates belong to this wider history.

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Surviving gates and urban routes

Bab al-Futuh

A northern monumental entrance to historic Cairo.

Bab al-Nasr

A northern gateway in the city’s Fatimid defensive system.

Bab Zuwayla

A southern gateway surviving in the historic urban fabric.

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Later extensions

The Ayyubid and Mamluk periods substantially altered the wider defensive and urban landscape. The UNESCO record distinguishes Fatimid planning from subsequent extensions; the later Cairo Citadel should not be mislabelled a Fatimid structure.

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Sources and references

Sources are selected for traceability. Physical monuments may reflect later rebuilding and restoration as well as Fatimid-era structures.

  1. Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities — Walls of CairoWalls begun under Jawhar and rebuilt under Badr al-Jamali
  2. UNESCO — Historic CairoWorld Heritage account of historic city fabric and Fatimid monuments
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