Fortress of Babylon of Cairo
As of the time of Auguste, the Roman fortress of Babylon of Cairo is built close to Eastern bank of the the Nile, vis-a-vis the island of Rhoda. Widened at the time of the Emperor Trajan (98-117) and strengthened by Arcadius (395-408), it consists of round towers and bastions connected by a brick wall.
Located at a strategic site of first importance, the fortress made it possible to control the delta while dominating the point of the most convenient passage to cross the Nile, with the junction between the High and Low-Egypt.
At the time of the conquest of the Egypt by the Arab general 'Amr ibn Al “Ace in 640, the fortress was integrated into the town of Fostat while keeping its independence. The following Moslem dynasties, the Abbasid and the Toulounides, founded then Al-Askar (750) and Al-Qataï (868) before the unit, increased, takes the name of Al-Qahira (the Victorious one). Fostat and will el-Qahira will be unified and joined together in only one enclosure, kept by a citadel, by the monarch Ayyoubide Salah ED-DIN in 1173. Fostat trains the Cairo Old man today.
The fortress of Babylon was transformed very early into Christian and Jewish enclave. The majority of the old churches Copte S are located on the ruins of the fortress, in particular the church Al Moallaqa (suspended), built at the 5th century on the southern gate, from where its name of suspended and the church Saint Georges (Greek orthodoxe), built above one of the turns which surmount the gate of the fortress, of which she marries the round-off.
The ruins of the fortress shelter also today the Musée copte of Cairo.
Photographs of the towers of the fortress of Babylon
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