Bab Zwayla is based in Cairo.

Bab Zwayla served as the city’s major southern entrance during the Fatimid period.

In the 1090s, it was built as part of a larger project to strengthen the Fatimid city’s defenses (which had sixty gates), which included the use of Anatolian or Mesopotamian Christian architects and Egyptian labor.

The minarets of Al-Mosque, Muayyad which were erected to its turrets some four hundred years after they were first constructed, give the mosque a significantly more powerful appearance than the Northern Gates.

Bab Zwayla became a focal point in the Mamluk city, which had exceeded the Fatimid fortifications and had pressed up against Salah al Din’s additions.

However, the tradition of sealing the gates each night remained long into the nineteenth century, thus creating a city within a city.

On the north side of the gate, there’s a corridor that looks wonderfully medieval, although the Bab itself is most impressive when seen from the south side.

The gate was named after Fatimid mercenaries from the Berber al-Zwayla tribe, who were stationed there and who were driven out by the Mamluks.

For ages, it served as the starting point for caravans heading to Mecca and the source of the drum rolls that welcomed senior “Amirs of One Hundred” upon their arrival.

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Dancers and snake charmers entertained the crowds here, and the penalties were a source of amusement as well.

Dishonest merchants may be hanged from hooks, while ordinary criminals would be subjected to garroting, beheading, or impalement.

Losers in Mamluke power conflicts were sometimes fastened to the walls or attached to the doors.

Tumanbey, the last Mamluk ruler, was hanged here in 1517 after a large audience had read the Fatah (the opening sura of the Koran) and the rope had snapped twice before his neck was severed from his body.

Its link with Mitwalli al-Qutb, a miracle-working local saint who is supposed to present himself to the devout as a glimmer of light inside the gatehouse, helped to restore Bab Zwayla’s prestige later on.

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