Facts About Bab Zuweila

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Facts About Bab Zuweila

05 16, 2023
Bab zuweila mosque , Bab zuweila facts , Bab zuweila history

Bab zuweila or El-Metwally Gate is one of the gates of "Old Cairo" in the Egyptian capital Cairo. This door or gate is famous for being the gate under which the heads of the messengers of hulaku, the leader of the Tatars, were hung when they came threatening Egypt, which eventually led to the defeat of the Mongols and the emergence of the Mamluk state, and the last Mamluk sultan, Tuman Bey, was also executed on it after the Ottoman Sultan Selim I entered Egypt and annexed the Ottoman state, marking the end of the Mamluk state.

The door was created in the year 485 Ah (1092 ad) and consists of a huge building block with a depth of 25 meters, a width of 25.72 meters, and a height of 24 meters from street level.

The door consists of two round towers that protrude a third of the building block outside the wall, and in the middle of the two towers is an open corridor leading to the entrance door, and the two towers rise to two-thirds of the height in a solid building, and in the upper third of each of them comes a defense chamber covered by a longitudinal vault intersecting with a transverse vault.

Reason for naming

The name "zuweila" is because it is the door that leads convoys heading west towards the city of Zuweila deep in the Libyan desert, and also there is a fortified door with the same name "Bab Zuweila" in the city of Mahdia in Tunisia, where the city of zuweila was in the old days on the road of caravan cities and one of the Centers of trade with Africa. Bab Zuweila is the third door that still resists the factors of time and neglect after the other two doors of Old Cairo: Bab al-Nasr and Bab al-Futuh, this door is considered the most beautiful of the three doors, and it has two arched towers at the base, which are more like the two towers of Bab al-Futuh, but they are more rounded, Bab zuweila occupies a square area, the length of each of its ribs (25 meters) and the corridor of Bab zuweila is all roofed with a dome, and most of the decorative elements have disappeared from it.. When the Muayyad King Abu Al-Nasr Sheikh built his mosque in 818 ah, the architect of the mosque chose the two towers of Bab Zuweila and erected the minarets of the mosque on them.. The famous historian (Al-qalqashandi) mentions a lot about Bab Zuweila, and he mentions in his book (Subah Al-ash) verses from poetry written by Ali ibn Muhammad al-Nili talking about the greatness of this door, including saying:

Man, if you see zuweila's door

you would have known as much about our structure

If Faroon had seen him, he would not have replied

Stated and not recommended by Hamana

In general, Bab zuweila is called the gate of the Matwally. Where he was sitting at his entrance (Metwally) collecting the entrance tax to Cairo!

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Bab Zuweila is famous for being the door on which the heads of the messengers of Hulagu, the leader of the Tatars, were hung when they came threatening the Egyptians. From the military point of view, Bab Zuweila, built on the southern rib of the Cairo wall, is one of the defensive forts of the city of Cairo and was previously used as a public square to execute the guilty and hang their heads over this door.

Built by the Fatimid vizier, Badr al-Jamali, in 485 AH/1092 AD. The gate was named after the tribe of Zuwayla, who came from north Africa with Jawhar al-Siqili and quartered near the gate.

Bab Zuwayla is a big gate that was built a long time ago in 1092. It is one of only three gates that are still standing from a very old city called Cairo. Cairo was built by a group of people called the Fatimids in 969. The city was like a castle with a big wall made of mud and stones to keep it safe. Bab Zuwayla is one of the entrances to this special city.

Bab Zuweila is located in the historic district of Islamic Cairo, specifically in the area known as Fatimid Cairo. It stands at the southern end of Muizz Street, one of the oldest and most important streets in the city.

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