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The mighty Roman stronghold on the Nile around which Old Cairo first grew — its great round towers still stand at the heart of Coptic Cairo, where the whole city began.الحصن الروماني المنيع على النيل الذي نشأت حوله مصر القديمة — ما زال برجاه المستديران العظيمان قائمين في قلب القاهرة القبطية، حيث بدأت المدينة كلّها.
Before there was a Cairo, there was Babylon — not the famous city of Iraq, but a great Roman fortress on the banks of the Nile. Its mighty walls and round towers guarded this strategic spot for centuries, and it was around this stronghold that the first Islamic city of Fustat, and later Cairo itself, grew. Today its ancient towers still stand at the heart of Coptic Old Cairo, with churches and a synagogue built right into the old Roman fortress.
قبل أن تكون هناك قاهرة، كان هناك بابليون — لا مدينة العراق الشهيرة، بل حصنٌ روماني عظيم على ضفاف النيل. حرست جدرانه المنيعة وأبراجه المستديرة هذه البقعة الاستراتيجية قرونًا، وحول هذا الحصن نشأت أول مدينةٍ إسلامية، الفسطاط، ثم القاهرة نفسها. واليوم ما زالت أبراجه القديمة قائمة في قلب مصر القديمة القبطية، بكنائسَ ومعبدٍ بُنيت داخل الحصن الروماني القديم.
A Roman Stronghold · حصنٌ روماني
A fortress at a strategic crossing.حصنٌ عند معبرٍ استراتيجي.
The Fortress of Babylon was a major Roman and Byzantine stronghold, substantially built up in the early 2nd century AD under the emperor Trajan, on a site of even older importance. Strategically placed where the Nile met an ancient canal toward the Red Sea, it controlled river traffic and the approaches to the Delta. Its massive stone walls and great round towers made it one of the most important fortifications in Roman Egypt, a powerful guardian of this vital crossing point.
The Seed of Cairo · بذرة القاهرة
From fortress to metropolis.من حصنٍ إلى حاضرة.
The fortress played a decisive role in Egypt's history. When the Arab armies conquered Egypt around 640–641 AD, they besieged and took Babylon, and then founded their new capital, Fustat, right beside it. From that settlement, through a succession of later capitals, grew the great city of Cairo. In a very real sense, then, this Roman fortress is where Cairo began — the ancient nucleus around which more than a thousand years of city would unfold.
Within the Walls Today · داخل الأسوار اليوم
Churches built into a fortress.كنائسُ بُنيت داخل حصن.
Remarkably, the old fortress became the cradle of Coptic Cairo. Over the centuries, churches and a synagogue were built into and around its towers and walls, so that today the area within and beside Babylon holds some of Egypt's most precious religious sites: the Hanging Church, suspended over one of its very gates; the Church of Abu Serga; the Ben Ezra Synagogue; and the Coptic Museum. The great round towers still rise among them.
Quick Facts · حقائق سريعة
Sources include standard histories of Roman and Coptic Cairo. Some dates are approximate.