Citadel of Qaitbay
Between Past and Present
At the edge of the Mediterranean, where waves crash against Alexandria’s shore, rises the Citadel of Qaitbay—a fortress of stone standing where one of the world’s greatest wonders once shone. It was here that the Lighthouse of Alexandria, the Pharos, guided sailors with its flame until the sea and centuries pulled it down. From its ruins, Sultan Qaitbay built this citadel in the 15th century, determined that Alexandria’s harbor would never be left unguarded.
The walls of the citadel were raised using the very stones that had once belonged to the lighthouse. In their weight, both memory and power endure. Soldiers once patrolled its ramparts, watching the horizon for Ottoman fleets and European sails. Cannons faced the sea, ready to defend the harbor that was Egypt’s window to the Mediterranean world.
Experience It
Though its battles are long past, the Citadel of Qaitbay still feels alive with the energy of its history. The sea crashes against its walls, gulls wheel overhead, and the wind carries salt and stories from across the water. Standing here, you look out from the same vantage where pharaohs welcomed traders, and where sailors once caught sight of the world’s tallest beacon.
More than a fortress, the citadel is a palimpsest: a monument built on memory, where the legacy of the Pharos of Alexandria still lingers in stone. To walk its corridors is to feel the weight of centuries—pharaohs, sultans, and sailors alike bound by the same sea.
Experience the remains of a lost wonder