Cairo
Cairo, Egypt, the Triumphant City, known officially
as al-Qahirah is one of the world's largest urban areas and
offers many sites to see. It is the administrative capital of
Egypt and, close by, is almost every Egypt Pyramid, such as
the Great Pyramids of Giza on the very edge of the city. But
there are also ancient temples, tombs, Christian churches, magnificent
Muslim monuments, and of course, the Egyptian Antiquities Museum
all either within or nearby the city.
Cairo, Egypt is an amazing city full of life and movement,
and it is that way almost 24 hours every day, with the noisy
honking of horns, children playing in the streets and merchants
selling their wears and services. And here, the Egyptians are
most at home in this powerful, modern and ancient city
Cairo, Egypt provides great culture, including art galleries
and music halls, such as the Cairo Opera House, as well it should,
being one of the largest cities in the world. It also provides
some of the grandest accommodations and restaurants in the world,
such as the Four Seasons and the Cairo Marriott.
Cairo offers an incredible selection of shopping, leisure and
nightlife activities. Shopping ranges from the famous Khan el-Khalili
souk, (or bazaar) largely unchanged since the 14th century,
to modern air-conditioned centers displaying the latest fashions.
All the bounty of the East can be here. Particularly good buys
are spices, perfumes, gold, silver, carpets, brass and copperware,
leatherwork, glass, ceramics and mashrabiya. Try some of the
famous street markets, like Wekala al-Balaq, for fabrics, including
Egyptian cotton, the Tentmakers Bazaar for appliqué-work,
Mohammed Ali Street for musical instruments and, although you
probably won't want to buy, the Camel Market makes a fascinating
trip. This is, and has been for over a thousand years, truly
a shopper's paradise.
:Historic Places in Cairo
Egyptian Museum – The citadel (of Saladin) – Mohamed
Ali’s great Mosque – Islamic Cairo – Coptic
Cairo – Al Azhar Mosque - Al-Mo’ezz St. –
The Pyramids – Sphinx – Sakkara Pyramid –
Midom Pyramid – Dahshour Pyramid – The city of Manf
– The Arabic old market in Khan El Khalily - Ahmed Ibn
Toulon Mosque – Wekalet Bazar’a.
Those previously mentioned sites can be visited in two days
or more.
 
The Citadel:
It lies in the lap of the Mokattam mountain- a series of hills
surrounding most of Cairo- and North East to Sayeda Aisha’s
square. There stands the Citadel with it’s huge fences
and magnificent towers. It goes back to 1167 AD when the prominent
Islamic King; Saladin, using huge blocks of stone from the Mokattam
and stones used in building some small pyramids in Giza, built
it as a the first defense line in fighting the Crusaders and
protecting Egypt from that threat. The Mosque of Mohamed Ali
is the most important thing to be seen inside the Citadel, and
its also known as the Alba-Sakr mosque. It’s divided into
two main parts, the open courtyard- which encloses a fountain-
and the praying hall.
The great Mosque of Mohammed Ali
Established by Mohammed Ali in 1824 AD copying the style of
the most eminent mosque in Istanbul “The Blue Mosque”
with its towering minarets and leaded domes. From inside you
can see paintings affected by a kind of art knows as “The
between rivers” and the Baroque which was famous in Europe
in middle ages.
The Egyptian Museum
One of the most well-known in the world, as it combines matchless
treasures of the Pharaohs. It lies north west to the most prominent
squares in Cairo “Al-Tahrir”. Strangely enough,
it’s the only museum in the world which was established
to be a museum in 1901. it consists of two floors, the first
encircles all the historic treasures which narrates the tale
of civilization on the banks of the river Nile for all ages.
The second has the legendary and most talked about treasure
in history of the King “Tut Ankh Amun”. A treasure
of almost 70,000 pieces most of them are Gold, goes back to
the 8th dynasty, 1350 B.C.
 Khan
EL Khalily:
The Bazaar or the Arabian Market where there are more than 400
souvenir shops selling handicraft and diminished antiquities.
It goes back to the Fatimic era, and the modern market was built
on the ruins of the royal palaces. It was built by “El
Moez lden Illah”. It lies between the two most famous
mosques in Cairo- Al Hussien, and Al azhar. There are shops
selling Gold and silver made souvenirs, also works of craving
copper, in addition to hand-made carpets and Arabian shawls.
 The
Mosque of “The Sultan Hassan”
The top representative of the Islamic art, it lies west to Saladin
square viewing the Citadel. It was built in the reign of Sultan
Hassan (1356-1363) the most eminent sultan of the Memluks reign.
The outer structure looks more like a Pharaoic temple, with
great minarets and lofty domes go up to 55 m. At its entry you
can see the well-known diagram- the sharp “…”.
Inside, it’s divided into 2 main sections, the patio which
encompasses a fountain, and four large halls representing all
the Islamic architecture at that time. The architecture of mosques
is to draw as many diagrams, inside each some writing from the
Holy Koran. You can also see the works of sculpture, engraving,
and dovetailing in wood, also cornices and eight-sided star
shaped arches.
The Pyramids
The most renowned visit in the world and it’s one of the
Seven Wonders of The World. They are located on the west bank
of the Nile and at the northern borders of the western desert.
It dates back to the 4th Dynasty – the Old Pharaoic Age
– 2400 B.C. They are the most illustrious monuments in
the history of humanity.
Sphinx
The most famed statue in the world which lies beneath the Pyramids
and it was alleged that it is the Royal Guard for them. It is
a body of a lion fitted on a head of a human, which represents
the Pharaoh with his Royal Crown. It stands for the Power and
Wisdom of the Pharaoh. It’s 20m high and 73m long.
 
Sakkara
Go 20 kilometers to the south- to see the supreme cemetery in
history. It stretches for 15 km inside the western desert. It’s
to be considered the first stony graveyard in history of mankind.
The gradated pyramid (or terrace) for the King “Zusser”
- the third Dynasty, Old Egypt’s kingdom- was built by
the first architect in history “Amenuteb”, who used
limestone in its construction. The area generally is surrounded
by a wall of limestone supported by watching towers and also
illusive doors till the main entry to the pyramid.
City of Manf (the city of white walls)
The first known capital of the United Egypt which goes back
to the beginnings of history (3200 B.C) it witnessed the unification
of the two parts of North and South Egypt under the first Pharaoh
“Mina” to become the capital and government centre
till the end of the Old Egypt’s Kingdom. There you can
see many fascinating monuments, among them the prominent statue
for King Ramsis II made of “00” and a Sphinx-like
statue.
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