Perched up on a rocky spur, the Citadel (12C) dominates Cairo. From the Ayyubid Dynasty, founded by Saladin, to the Mamluk Dynasty, it was the residence of the governors of Egypt, who had increasingly grandiose palaces built. Its current incarnation is down to Mohammed Ali, who had part of the wall rebuilt, demolished the palaces of his predecessors and built civil buildings (today headquarters of various museums), as well as building the eponymous mosque whose minarets dominate the skyline.