The Ayyubid Wall, as it stands under restoration today, runs for 1.5 km at a slight arc from south to north on the eastern side of Cairo. It is part of the urban fortifications built by Salah al-Din in 1176. The wall acts as boundary for the Darb al-Ahmar district to the west and the newly opened (2005) Al-Azhar Park on the eastern side. The southern edge of the wall is anchored by two important nearby monuments restored by the AKTC, the Khayrbek Mosque and the Aq Sunqur (Blue) Mosque. The north part of the restored wall is attached to the Archeological Triangle Park which contains ruins and artifacts from the Fatimid era in its sunken site. The restored wall itself contains fourteen towers and two gates, the Bab al-Mahruq and the Bab al-Barqiyya, the latter being the subject of this project and of particular interest due to its innovative design of interlocking volumes that provided optimum security in its day.

The Darb al-Ahmar district to the west was an area that had suffered serious decline over many years. Even though it is of great historic importance as the spine of Fatimid Cairo with many bazaars, historic neighborhoods, and monuments such as the Aslam Mosque and the al-Azhar Mosque, the area had experienced neglect and deterioration. The AKTC Historic Cities Support Programme designed a comprehensive rehabilitation program that focused not only on the physical wall, but also the adjacent neighborhoods and people that comprised their community. This comprehensive program of revitalization was comprised of not only historic preservation and restoration, but also education, health care, housing, and other social services for the communities.

To the east of the wall is a large tract that had for centuries been an area for refuse. Today it is the al-Azhar Park, 30 hectares of newly landscaped public park, providing for the first time a large area of green space for Cairenes. The extensively landscaped park is augmented with a community center, two children's playgrounds, a youth sports center, restaurant, cafe, viewing platforms, and formal gardens. This introduction of open landscape and places for social gathering has been recognized internationally as a significant contribution to the quality of life for the citizens of Cairo.

The Ayyubid Wall is an extensive urban fortification constructed of stone in 1176 CE, five years following the overthrow of the Fatimid caliphate (969-1171 CE) by Salah al-Din, ushering in the Ayyubid era (1171-1250 CE). The wall was built to contain the existing Fatimid city in a single updated system that included previously unprotected suburbs. The Bab al-Barqiyya is a fortified gate of somewhat unusual design, with interlocking volumes that surrounded the entrant in such a way as to provide greater security and control than typical city wall gates of the time. This gate was one of several design innovations imported from Syria and speaks to the ingenuity of the Ayyubid military engineers. With the fall of the Ayyubid caliphate in 1250 and the subsequent Mamluk eras (1250-1517 CE) the Ayyubid Wall fell into disrepair. Over subsequent centuries, the eastern side became almost completely covered in refuse; ironically, this burial under a garbage dump was probably the single greatest factor in the site's preservation, shielding much of the old architecture from the ravages of the elements and the scavenging of citizens looking for building materials to re-use.


In September 2006 a team from Development of Integrated Procedures for Restoration of Monuments (DIAPReM) of the University of Ferrara and CyArk conducted a High Definition Documentation (HDD) pilot project of the Bab al-Barqiyya, a fortified gate in the Ayyubid Wall which defines the edge between the Darb al-Ahmar district of Cairo and the new al-Azhar Park. Alessandro Grieco and Daniel Blersch represented DIAPReM and Oliver Monson represented CyArk as project coordinator. They were assisted by staff on site from AKTC and by staff from the al-Azhar Park. Shiraz Allibhai, Education Programmes Coordinator for AKTC, administered project logistics. The HDD survey occupied the days of September 25 to 29 at the beginning of Ramadan.

The purpose of the project was to demonstrate the capabilities and advantages of HDD techniques and how they might be applied to the ongoing restoration activities of the Ayyubid Wall by the Historic Cities Programme of the Aga Khan Trust for Culture. The scope of the project was to document the Bab al-Barqiyya gate itself, both exterior and interior, as well as twenty metres to each side of the gate. The project was funded by the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, Historic Cities Support Programme.

The 3D laser scan survey was executed with a Leica/Cyrax HDS 3000 by Alessandro Grieco and Daniel Blersch of DIAPReM. The 3D survey was coordinated and georeferenced with an existing topographical survey conducted by survey engineers from the al-Ahzar Park staff. The final 3D laser scan survey data registered within the topographic survey with an average error of 2mm. The laser scan survey was executed from a total of 17 area set-up positions (6 exterior, 11 interior). The resulting 17 area datasets (point clouds) were registered and fused into a master dataset (point cloud) that contains a total of 43,175,477 points. See Index of Survey Data.

High resolution and high dynamic range spherical panoramic photography was executed from each of the 17 area set-up positions, by Oliver Monson who as CyArk's representative coordinated the whole project. This photographic data was augmented by other single frame high resolution and high dynamic range photography. The photographic data provides a further level of detail and accuracy to the point cloud data set and may be fused with this data set for purposes of visualization and research.

The concern of the AKTC for the condition of this site dates from 1984, and in 1990 the AKTC and the Cairo Governate signed an accord whereby the AKTC assumed primary responsibility and funding for the full restoration of the 1.5 kilometer long wall, restoration of important monuments on the western side of the wall in the Darb al-Ahmar district, development of housing, education, medical and social services throughout the district, the development of an archaeological park with museum, and the development of an extensive public park, the Al-Azhar Park on the eastern side of the wall. This 30 hectare park, opened in 2005, is the first such park ever in Cairo, and provides much needed and appreciated green space for the city residents.

The preservation of the Bab al-Barqiyya is part of this comprehensive restoration project. The restoration is in its final stages and is being executed by a team of local and international experts managed and supported by the AKTC. When completed, this project will have taken the Bab al-Barqiyya and the whole Ayyubid Wall from a critically endangered state to a well preserved state that will enhance the quality of life for the citizens of Cairo. The positive effects of this project are already manifest.