Giza
The last remaining wonder of the ancient world; for nearly 4000 years, the extraordinary shape, impeccable geometry and sheer bulk of the Giza Pyramids…
Must-see attractions in Cairo
Cairo
One of the world’s most important collections of ancient artefacts, the Egyptian Museum takes pride of place in Downtown Cairo, on the north side of Midan…
Cairo
This museum, on the edge of Islamic Cairo, holds one of the world’s finest collections of Islamic art and is Egypt's (and one of the entire Middle East's)…
Cairo
Founded in AD 970 as the centrepiece of the newly created Fatimid city, Al Azhar is one of Cairo’s earlier mosques, and its sheikh is considered the…
Cairo
Sharia Al Muizz, as it’s usually called, named after the Fatimid caliph who conquered Cairo in AD 969, was Cairo's grand thoroughfare, once chock-a-block…
Cairo
This museum, founded in 1908, houses Coptic art from the earliest days of Christianity in Egypt right through to early Islam. It is a beautiful place, as…
Cairo
The skinny lanes of Khan Al Khalili are basically a medieval-style mall. This agglomeration of shops – many arranged around small courtyards – stocks…
Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan
Cairo
Massive yet elegant, this grand structure is regarded as the finest piece of early Mamluk architecture in Cairo. It was built between 1356 and 1363 by…
Madrassa & Mausoleum of Qalaun
Cairo
Built in just 13 months, the 1279 Madrassa and Mausoleum of Qalaun is both the earliest and the most splendid of the vast religious complexes on this…
Cairo
The ‘Street of the Tentmakers’ is one of the remaining medieval speciality quarters – it takes its name from the artisans who produce the bright…
Cairo
With funds from the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, what had been a mountain of garbage, amassed over centuries, was in 2005, almost miraculously, transformed…
Cairo
After a years'-long restoration period, this palace complex, built by the uncle of King Farouk, Prince Mohammed Ali, in the early 20th century, has once…
Cairo
This 187m-high tower is the city’s most famous landmark after the Pyramids. Built in 1961, the structure, which resembles a stylised lotus plant with its…
Cairo
Shuttered for years, the Aisha Fahmy Palace was built in 1907 for Egyptian aristocrat Ali Fahmy, who was King Farouk's army chief. Reopened as an arts…
Cairo
Built in the 11th century, beautiful Bab Zuweila was an execution site during Mamluk times, and today is the only remaining southern gate of the medieval…
Cairo
Sultan Qaitbey was as ruthless as any Mamluk sultan, but he was also something of an aesthete. His mosque, completed in 1474 as part of a much larger…
Giza
The oldest pyramid in Giza and the largest in Egypt, Khufu’s Great Pyramid stood 146m high when it was completed around 2570 BC. After 46 windy centuries,…
Giza
Known in Arabic as Abu Al Hol (Father of Terror), this sculpture of a man with the haunches of a lion was dubbed the Sphinx by the ancient Greeks because…
Giza
Khafre, the second pyramid, seems larger than that of Khafre's father, Khufu. At just 136m high, it’s not, but it stands on higher ground and its peak is…
Giza
At 62m (originally 66.5m), this pyramid is the smallest of the trio, only about one-tenth the bulk of the Great Pyramid. The pharaoh Menkaure died before…
Cairo
Sprawling over a limestone spur on the city's eastern edge, the Citadel, started by Saladin in 1176 as a fortification against the Crusaders, was home to…
Cairo
The Northern Cemetery is the more interesting half of a vast necropolis known popularly as the City of the Dead. The titillating name refers to the fact…
Cairo
With its fully restored paving stones and elaborate mashrabiyya (wooden lattice screens), Darb Al Asfar alley conjures up the Middle Ages – if the Middle…
Cairo
The rounded Bab Al Futah with its delicate carved stone arch and the square-towered Bab An Nasr were built in 1087 as the two main northern entrances to…
Cairo
Baron Empain lived in a fantastical and highly eccentric Hindu temple–inspired mansion, with the facade bedecked with elephants and serpents…
Cairo
One of the most sacred Islamic sites in Egypt, this mosque is the reputed burial place of the head of Hussein, the grandson of Prophet Mohammed. Most of…
Cairo
Modelled on classic Ottoman lines, with domes upon domes upon domes, this alabaster-white mosque within the Citadel took 18 years to build (1830–48) and…
Cairo
The square between the two venerated mosques of Al Azhar and Sayyidna Al Hussein was one of the focal points of Mamluk Cairo and remains an important…
Cairo
The core of this luxury hotel is a lavish palace built by Khedive Ismail to house Empress Éugenie when she visited for the opening of the Suez Canal in…
Madrassa & Mausoleum of Barquq
Cairo
Sultan Barquq seized power in 1382, when Egypt was reeling from plague and famine; his Sufi school was completed four years later. Enter through the bold…
Madrassa & Mausoleum of An Nasir Mohammed
Cairo
Sultan An Nasir (‘the Victor’), was both despotic and exceedingly accomplished. His madrassa was built in 1304 in part with a Gothic doorway An Nasir…
Cairo
The only one of its kind in the Middle East, this interesting museum features textiles from ancient Egypt and the Roman, Coptic and Islamic eras. The…
Khanqah-Mausoleum of Farag Ibn Barquq
Cairo
Built by a son of Sultan Barquq, whose great madrassa and mausoleum stand on Bein Al Qasreen, this tomb complex was completed in 1411 because Barquq…
Cairo
This petite mosque, the oldest in Egypt with a stone facade, was built in 1125 by one of the last Fatimid caliphs. Several features appear here that…
Mosque-Sabil of Suleiman Silahdar
Cairo
This 19th-century complex, built by Mohammed Ali's chief of armoury, combines a baroque-styled kuttab (Quranic school) and sabil (public fountain) at…
Cairo
Just south of the Coptic Museum on Sharia Mar Girgis (the main road parallel with the metro), a stone facade inscribed with Coptic and Arabic marks the…
Sabil-Kuttab of Abdel Rahman Katkhuda
Cairo
The Sabil-Kuttab of Abdel Rahman Katkhuda is one of the iconic structures of Islamic Cairo, depicted in scores of paintings and lithographs. Building this…
Cairo
One of the few well restored examples of Cairo's once vibrant hammam (bathhouse) culture, the Hammam Inal dates from 1456. The marble-clad central room is…
Cairo
The city’s oldest intact, functioning Islamic monument is easily identified by its high walls topped with neat crenulations that resemble a string of…
Cairo
Through a gateway to the south of the main entrance of the Mosque of Ibn Tulun, this quirky museum gets its current name from John Gayer-Anderson, the…
