page_title: Citadel of Damascus
section_title: Saladin to Al-Adil
hierarchical_section_title: Citadel of Damascus / Old citadel / Saladin to Al-Adil
caption_attribution_description: Zitadelle von Damaskus, eigenes Foto von 09/2006, public domain,
context_page_description: The Citadel of Damascus is a large medieval fortified palace and citadel in Damascus, Syria. It is part of the Ancient City of Damascus, which was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.
  The location of the current citadel was first fortified in 1076 by the Turkman warlord Atsiz bin Uvak, although it is possible but not proven that a citadel stood on this place in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. After the assassination of Atsiz bin Uvak, the project was finished by the Seljuq ruler Tutush I. The emirs of the subsequent Burid and Zengid dynasties carried out modifications and added new structures to it. During this period, the citadel and the city were besieged several times by Crusader and Muslim armies. In 1174, the citadel was captured by Saladin, the Ayyubid sultan of Egypt, who made it his residence and had the defences and residential buildings modified.
  Saladin's brother Al-Adil rebuilt the citadel completely between 1203 and 1216 in response to the development of the counterweight trebuchet.
context_section_description: Immediately following Nur ad-Din's death in 1174, Damascus was seized by Saladin, the Ayyubid sultan of Egypt. In that year, Saladin rode from Egypt past the Crusader states to Damascus with only 700 horsemen. The city opened its gates to Saladin without resistance, except for the citadel, which surrendered to him later that year. Saladin added a tower to the citadel and refurbished the residential buildings. Like his predecessor Nur ad-Din, Saladin died of an illness in the citadel on 4 March 1193. He was initially buried inside the citadel, but later reburied in a mausoleum near the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus.
  At Saladin's death in 1193, rival Ayyubid factions led by Saladin's sons established themselves in Egypt, Aleppo, Damascus, and Iraq. Al-Afdal, Saladin's eldest son and emir of Damascus, was initially recognized by the younger sons as their overlord. However, hostilities broke out in 1194 between Al-Afdal and Al-Aziz Uthman, Saladin's second-oldest son and Ayyubid sultan of Egypt. In 1196, Al-Aziz and Saladin's brother Al-Adil captured Damascus, except for the citadel, where Al-Afdal had taken refuge. After negotiations, Al-Afdal surrendered the citadel and his titles to Al-Aziz and was exiled to Salkhad in the Hauran. Al-Adil recognized the overlordship of Al-Aziz and became ruler of Damascus. At the death of Al-Aziz in 1198, several members of Saladin's family, including Al-Afdal and Az-Zahir Ghazi, ruler of Aleppo, allied themselves against Al-Adil and marched on Damascus. Al-Afdal and Az-Zahir besieged Damascus in 1200 and 1201, but both attempts were unsuccessful. Al-Adil eventually negotiated a peace with Al-Afdal and Az-Zahir, who recognized Al-Adil's suzerainty as sultan of Egypt and emir of Damascus.
caption: One of the bastions of the Citadel of Damascus protected by multiple bretèches
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