thumb|right|[[Bab al-Futuh, one of the two preserved Fatimid gates in the northern city walls, dated to 1087]]
The fortifications of the historic city of Cairo, Egypt, include defensive walls and gates that were built, rebuilt, and expanded in different periods.
The first set of walls was built during the foundation of Fatimid Cairo in the 10th century. These were rebuilt in the late 11th century on the orders of the Fatimid vizier Badr al-Jamali. In the 12th century, the Ayyubid sultan Salah ad-Din (Saladin) restored the walls and began a major extension to the south. He also began construction on the Citadel of Cairo, a military complex that would serve as the center of power in Egypt for centuries afterwards.
Some sections of the historic walls are still preserved today, mainly on the north and east sides of the city, as well as much of the Citadel. Only three gates are fully preserved, all dating from the late 11th-century Fatimid reconstruction: Bab al-Nasr, Bab al-Futuh, and Bab Zuwayla. Some other gates have been partially recovered through archeological excavations, such as Bab al-Barqiyya.
Historical development
Fatimid walls
thumb|Plan of [[Fatimid Caliphate|Fatimid Cairo according to Stanley Lane-Poole, showing the city wall and the known gates]]
Cairo was founded as a palace-city in 969 by the Fatimid Caliphate. Jawhar al-Siqilli, the Fatimid general who led the conquest of Egypt, oversaw the construction of the city's original walls, which were built of mudbrick. According to later medieval sources, these first city walls, which had a roughly rectangular outline, had eight gates. On the north side were two gates named Bāb al-Futūḥ ("Gate of Conquests") and Bāb al-Naṣr ("Gate of Victory"); on the east side were Bāb al-Barqiyya ("Gate of the Barqa regiment") and Bāb al-Qarrātīn ("Gate of the clover merchants"); to the south were Bāb Zuwayla ("Gate of the Zuwayla") and Bāb al-Faraj ("Gate of Joy"); and on the west side were Bāb al-Qanṭara ("Gate of the bridge [over the Khalij canal]") and Bāb al-Sa'ada ("Gate of Felicity"). During the Fatimid period there were many gardens along the walls. A chain of gardens ran past Bab al-Nasr and the garden of al-Mukhtar al-Saqlabi existed outside Bab al-Futuh.
thumb|Northern section of the city walls between [[Bab al-Nasr (Cairo)|Bab al-Nasr and Bab al-Futuh, dating from the late 11th century Fatimid reconstruction]]
During the late 11th century, the Fatimid vizier Badr al-Jamali ordered a reconstruction of the walls primarily out of stone and further outward than before to expand the space within Cairo's walls. The architectural elements of the walls were informed by Badr al-Gamali's Armenian background, and were innovative in the context of Islamic military architecture in Egypt. The walls are composed of three vertical levels.
Preserved gates
Many gates existed along the walls of Fatimid Cairo, but only three remain today: Bab al-Nasr, Bab al-Futuh, and Bab Zuwayla (with "Bab" translating to "gate"). These gates are among the most important masterpieces of historic military architecture in the Islamic world.A restoration project from 2001 to 2003 successfully restored the three gates and parts of the northern wall between Bab al-Nasr and Bab al-Futuh.
Bab al-Futuh and Bab al-Nasr (northern gates)
thumb|[[Bab al-Nasr (Cairo)|Bab al-Nasr, one of the northern city gates in the Fatimid walls, dated to 1087]]
Bab al-Nasr and Bab al-Futuh are both are on the northern section of the wall, about two hundred yards from each other.
Bab al-Futuh features no inscriptions on the gate itself, Inside Bab al-Futuh, through its eastern flanking doorway, is the tomb of an unidentified figure, and through its western flanking doorway is a long vaulted chamber. Similar to Bab al-Nasr and Bab al-Futuh, Bab Zuwayla was also adjacent to gardens, namely the gardens of Qanṭara al-Kharq. The latter gate, originally discovered in the 1950s, Other parts of the Citadel were repeatedly modified in later periods.]]
In 1176, the construction of the Cairo Citadel began under Saladin's orders. It was to become the center of government in Egypt until the 19th century, with expansions and renovations.