Coming Soon

After about more than 20 years of restoration works, Citadel of Damascus is about to be opened to the public in June 2006. Until the 1980's the Citadel was almost inaccessible, as it was an old prison from the late 12th century and was occupied largely by the military.

Needless to say, the citadel was built inside the old wall of Damascus. A lot of historians claimed that the citadel was built at the Roman era however, studies carried by several specialized scholars, historians and archaeologists showed that the castle was founded by Saljukis in 1076 A.D. and was completely rebuilt between1203–1214 by al-Malik al-Ādil to protect the city against the Crusaders and Mongols invasion.

The citadel is rectangular in shape and with rounded corners in its northwest, inside it, they built houses, baths, schools, wells, prisons and a mosque (Abu al-Dardaa), and it was also used as a residence for some Ayubid Sultans like Saladin.
Each corner of the castle has a tower , two towers on the eastern side, and three towers on the northern and southern sides. The citadel has four gates and whole of it was surrounded by a deep trench which was filled with water during wars.

My thoughts about the citadel is that, how it was always a prison that hosted revolutionary people and militant, great figures such as Ibin Taimyyah, and a lot of political detainees, and now it will turn into museum and a centre for cultural activates.

For more pictures click here.