Other-Landmarks-details

 

Magra El-Oyoun Aqueduct

Whenever you stroll along Egypt’s districts, history will reveal secrets and stories of people who lived in these districts through the numerous monuments and landmarks dotted around Egypt generally and Cairo in particular.

A walk through the Old Cairo neighborhood will lead you to one of Cairo’s historical landmarks. It embodies Islamic thoughts and concepts with features of resilience and determination inherited from its ancient Islamic architectural style.

All of that makes you wonder how that masterpiece was designed and what is the story behind it.

To answer your questions, let us tell you the story of the Magra El-Oyoun Aqueduct, one of Egypt’s most fascinating water projects built in Egypt. It is the fence that connects the Old Cairo and El-Sayeda Aisha neighborhoods.

The obsession to supply fresh water to the Salah El-Din Citadel haunted sultans and kings ever since it was built. So, Sultan El-Naser Salah El-Din Yousef ibn Ayoub, the founder of the Ayyubid dynasty in Egypt, dug a well to supply water to the citadel, and it was named “Yousef Well” after him. However, the well did not deliver enough water to the citadel.   

During the Mamluk era, the architects of Sultan Mohammad ibn Qalawun's government thought of implementing a mega water project to lift and transport water from the Nile River lowlands west of Fum El-Khalig Street up to the Salah El-Din Citadel east of the street.

So, the architects built a high wall known as” Magra El Oyoun Aqueduct” extending from Fum El-Khalig to the Salah El-Din Citadel, as well as four water wheels on the banks of the Nile in Fum El-Khalig area. 

Moreover, Sultan Qansuwa renovated the aqueduct and built another six water wheels near the Sayyeda Nafisa neighborhood. The wheels were built to boost water flow to the citadel’s wells.

Nothing remains of the Magra El-Oyoun Aqueduct except for the wall stretching from Fum El-Khalig to Sayyeda Nafisa areas.

Magra El-Oyoun Aqueduct, which was the only source of water back then, consists of the “Maakhaz Tower,” which comprises six water wheels to convey water from the small channel on the aqueduct’s arches to the deep wells within the citadel to supply it with enough water.

Magra El-Oyoun was known as “The Seventh water wheels,” given it consisted of seven water wheels that supplied water to the citadel.