OLD CITY WALLS
Two walls separated by some ten meters: a double perimeter wall and an outer wall 7 m thick and 10 m high.
The walls of the Old City of Alexandria give an interesting idea of the dimensions of the city at the beginning of the 19th century. At that time, they are still standing and delimit a city that is compact and has only a few thousand inhabitants. It was during the Abbasid period that the first mill was erected. The fortifications are pierced by 4 gates bearing the names of Gates of the Sea, Rosetta, Cemetery and Sidra. The Mamelukes added 4 new gates during their era. The surrounding wall is double, the walls being separated by about 10 metres; the outer wall is almost 7 metres thick. Their height is 10 m. All the Mamluk sultans devote a lot of financial means to restore and consolidate these walls and their towers.
Southern walls. The Bab-al-Zabri gate is located in the parterre near the Alexandria stadium. It is flanked by an imposing circular tower. The facings were built with blocks carved from limestone, while the base of the walls is traversed by red granite columns
East Walls. Its remains are at the end of the Shallalat Gardens. One must imagine that on the great avenue Nasser stood the Rosetta Gate, the main entrance to the city, which was destroyed in 1885. Not far away, there are still the remains of a square tower and another circular tower whose Ayyubid form is reminiscent of the walls of Cairo built by Salah ed-Din.
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