Abstract:
The Rosetta Castle is one of the most important Egyptian military entrenchments, and one of the castles that historians attributed to the Mamluk Sultan Al-Ashraf Qaytbay, before 1984 the castle was in its worst condition, as its walls and towers were demolished and the stones used by the people to establish their homes were removed, and they turned it into a store for papers and cages, and seized Some are on parts of it, and at night it turned into a den for thieves and outlaws. Whereas the researcher was director of antiquities in the Rosetta region, at the time, and head of the excavation mission that discovered this castle, in preparation for the start of the first project to restore the ruins of Rosetta, which includes this castle along with other monuments, and he supervised the work of scientific excavations and restoration of the castle, and its rehabilitation to be a tourist attraction Within the activities of the national project for the restoration of the monuments of Rosetta. Studies began to prepare an integrated restoration project, by collecting information scattered with sources, traveler's books and references, and maps and plans preserved in the Islamic and Coptic Antiquities Section, which turned out to be inconsistent with a single form of the castle, as the plan was drawn based on the apparent parts without a realistic match. The excavation work carried out by the researcher was the beginning of the road to uncover the secrets of this castle, as it resulted in identifying its architectural elements, helping to define its features, resolving all its mysterious symbols, and identifying all its architectural and defensive elements. This research was devoted to a descriptive study of the castle through scientific excavations that revealed all its architectural elements, and this will be followed by another study that deals with the development of the architectural planning of the castle in the light of these excavations so that we have a complete study of this castle, which is distinguished by its unique historical and architectural importance, as these excavations echo Ample, as it is the first time that the architectural details and dating of this castle have been revealed. The research deals with a descriptive study of the castle after completing the excavations in preparation for restoration, and includes a description of the castle from the outside and the inside, including the walls and towers, as well as the keep and the mosque.
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