Qaitbay Castle

Established the fortress of Sultan Malik al-Ashraf Abu Al-Nasr Bey Mahmoudi year 882 AH / 1477 Place of Mannar Alexandria old at the eastern end of the island of Pharos, and this was Al-Manar had been destroyed after an earthquake in 702 AH the days of King al-Nasir Muhammad, which is restored by it destroyed after that After several years until all its parts were destroyed years 777 AH / 1375 AD.

When he visited the Sultan Bey in Alexandria year 882 AD / 1477 AD went to the site of the old and the Al-Manar is to build on the basis of the old tower, later known as Castle or Fortress of Bey of construction was completed after two years from the date of construction. 

Because Bey Citadel in Alexandria is one of the most important fortresses on the coast of the Mediterranean was concerned with the sultans and the rulers of Egypt over the historical times in the Mamluk era, we find the Sultan Qansuh Ghouri interested in this castle considerable attention and increased the strength of its garrison and shipment of weapons and gear, and the captured Ottoman Egypt used these castle place to protect them and took care to preserve and made by groups of soldiers infantry, cavalry and artillery, and the various garrisons to defend them and then defending the gate of Egypt's northern coast and the weakened Ottoman Empire began the castle lost its strategic importance and defensive as a result of the weakness of its garrison, it is then able to the French campaign on Egypt led by Napoleon Bonaparte's seizure them and the city of Alexandria in 1798, which led to the seizure, which took over the rest of Egypt, and when he took Muhammad Ali Pasha ruled Egypt and worked to fortify Egypt and especially its coast north stood the renewal of the walls of the castle and add some business out of the suit and the development of defense of the nineteenth century AD, was in strengthen the walls and the renewal of buildings and providing them with guns locked in addition to building many Ataiwabi and forts that were deployed along the northern coast of Egypt. Since the revolution, Ahmed Orabi in 1882, which was the results hit the city of Alexandria in on July 11 in 1882 and then the British occupation of Egypt was sabotage Bey Citadel and cause cracks it, has been a castle on this case until the Commission for the Conservation Archaeology Arabic in 1904, the work of many of the reforms, and undertake a project to work renewals of, based on studies carried out by scientists of the French campaign and published in a book Description of Egypt, and also by the Travelers Cassius in his year 1799.

Built Bey Citadel on an area of ​​17,550 square meters was built on this area of ​​the walls of the castle of Foreign Affairs and Astigmatic war which is a series of walls built to further fortify the castle and the walls, a Torin great of huge stones that surround the castle from the outside and the inside has been prepared to protect the castle, Valsor first is the outer wall and the castle is surrounded on all four sides Valdila east of the wall overlooking the sea and a width of two meters and a height of eight meters and is peppered any towers The western side is a fence a large thickness is greater than the rest of the walls of the castle peppered with three round towers and the longer the wall the oldest remaining parts , while the southern side it overlooks the port of East and peppered with three round towers and strike through the door, while the northern side Fatal directly on the sea and is divided into two parts the lower part of it is a corridor large tiled built over the rock directly by several rooms of the upper part is a corridor with openings narrow overlooking the sea, and the walls of Interior has shown a stone and surrounded the tower master of all his part, except the north and permeates the wall inside of a group of rooms adjacent prepared a barracks for the soldiers and are free of any openings other than door openings and openings Mzagl allocated to be openings for ventilation in terms of Kfathat and defense on the other. The main tower of the castle, it is the district north-western area of ​​the castle and the main tower of the castle is a building of three floors will be planning out a square from each corner of the four pillars round tower rising from the surface of the main tower was built with limestone tower hard  

 

Reach into the tower through the main entrance is located is located ribs Southern This results in the entrance into the tower, which consists of planning a three-story different from each other in planning and height story ground occupied by the mosque annex the castle while the second floor there are by several rooms different in size But by the third floor there are several small rooms separated by similar pathways.