Historical towers in Egypt's Saladin Citadel open to visitors after restoration

CAIRO, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- Two towers at the Saladin Citadel, one of Cairo's most famous landmarks, opened to the public on Sunday after restoration. Egyptian Tourism and Antiquities Minister Ahmed Issa said at the inauguration ceremony that the opening of the Ramla and Al-Haddad towers, together with other newly opened attractions, would extend the time of a tour at the citadel from one hour to three hours and contribute to increasing the number of nights spent by visitors in Cairo by one, according to a statement released by the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. Mustafa Waziri, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, said the two towers would be added to the citadel's itinerary and visitors could access them with the citadel's entry ticket. He said the restoration works included cleaning and replacing stones, maintaining stone stairs and floors, building walls for safety and protecting shrines. The Ramla Tower stands 20.8 meters tall, and the Al-Haddad Tower is one of the largest towers of the citadel, which was built by Salah El-Din in 1176 and served as the seat of power for most of Egypt's rulers for 700 years.

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Historical towers in Egypt's Saladin Citadel open to visitors after restoration