Islamic heritage · Cairo
Bab Zuweila
A towering Fatimid gate of the 11th century topped by twin minarets, and one of the last three surviving gates of old Cairo's wall.
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The story
Bab Zuweila was built in 1092 by the Fatimid vizier Badr al-Jamali and is also known as Bawabat al-Mitwali. Its two minarets were added between about 1415 and 1422 as part of the neighbouring Mosque of Sultan al-Mu'ayyad Shaykh. The gate is tied to major episodes of history: the heads of Hulagu's envoys were hung beneath it, and Tuman Bay, the last Mamluk sultan, was executed there in 1517 after the Ottoman sultan Selim I took Egypt. It remains one of the great landmarks of Cairo.
Good to know
- It is one of only three gates still standing from the wall of historic Cairo.
- The gate's massive block is about 25 m deep and wide, and about 24 m high above street level.
- It consists of two round towers with a passage between them leading to the entrance.