A few miles farther to the south rise the pyramids of Sakkarah, which are nearly as impressive as the others. They are near the site of the ancient city of Memphis.
As we look down upon the city of Cairo, we perceive a hundred or more minarets pointing upwards to the sky. On the outskirts of the city the desolate hills rise to a considerable height. It is here that the hills on either side approach each other so closely as to narrow the valley between them to a width of but five miles.
The citadel of Cairo was built by the famous Saladin in the twelfth century; he took the stones with which to build it from the small pyramids of Gizeh. It stands at the southeast corner of the city, which it seems to crown. The imposing effect of the citadel would be much greater, did not the barren hill in the rear tower over it, thus dwarfing its height.
The citadel is well worthy of description. It is really a small town containing several objects of interest. The old palace of Saladin is no longer in existence. On its former site stands the rich and imposing mosque of Mohammed Ali. It is of modern construction, built after the style of the mosques of Constantinople. So lofty and airy is its interior that the effect is most pleasing.
The court is paved with square blocks of white marble. Cloisters, supported by columns of alabaster, surround it on three sides. The interior of the mosque is also of alabaster and is surmounted by a lofty dome supported on four massive square pillars. Unlike many of the mosques of Cairo, this mosque is clean and well kept.
The old mosque—for centuries the royal mosque of Cairo—still stands in the center of the citadel. It is, however, in an advanced state of decay and ruin. Near by is St. Joseph's Well, some two hundred and ninety feet deep. Tradition says that the well, which was built by the ancient Egyptians, was, when discovered by Saladin, nearly choked with sand, which he caused to be removed.
The well is about twelve feet square. A gently sloping staircase on the outside descends to the level of the bottom of the well, which is said to be at the level of the Nile. This staircase is no longer used. Travelers, by payment of a small fee, have the privilege of looking at it.
To reach the well we must be willing to wade through deep sand, and to slide down a steep incline some forty feet, before we can hope to gaze down into the illustrious hole. Probably no vertical shaft was ever so impressive as this.
Cairo contains nearly three hundred mosques, the minarets of which are not only the most beautiful, but the most imposing of any the traveler sees in the Mohammedan world.
To one standing in the citadel, the city presents some of the most striking and picturesque views to be found in the East. Looking beyond the mosques and their towering minarets, some built of alternate layers of red and white stone, we behold the graves of the califs, the white mountains of Mohattan, the gigantic pyramids, the fertile plain of the Nile, and the dreary stretch of the desert.