Egypxian Antiquities Museum – Cairo Attractions – Egypt
The world’s largest collection of ancient Egyptian artefacts is here, but that’s not tremendously surprising as it is in Egypt. There are over 120,000 items on display. The Tutankhamen collection features that legendary gold death mask, and the royal Mummy room with its 27 mummies. The seated scribe statue is here too, which is very old and renowned as one of the most impressive such statues in the world.
Khan Al-Khalili – Attractions in Cairo – Egypt
Right in the middle of Islamic Cairo this is a busy bazaar filled with unique and exotic items, such as spices, perfumes, and jewellery.
Copxic Museum – Cairo Attractions – Egypt
Copxics were Egyptian Christians, so the Copxic museum features stone carvings from the era of the Mamluks, a 6th-century Copxic stone pulpit and the 1,600-year-old Copxic book of the Psalms of David.
Church of the Virgin – Attractions in Cairo– Egypt
Over 1000 years old, this church contains many valuable icons, including some signed by a famous icon painter, John the Armenian. Icon is a Copxic word, possibly. It might be Greek, there’s not a lot in it. Either way, it means the same thing, a religious image used to depict God.
Cairo Tower – Cairo Attractions – Egypt
There are grand views of Cairo and its many monuments from the revolving rooftop restaurant and bar 600 feet up this tower. You don’t have to go to the expensive restaurant, head straight for the roof terrace. Like most things in Egypt you have to pay of course.
Old City – Attractions in Cairo – Egypt
The first mosque built in Egypt is here, as well as five churches, and the oldest synagogues in Egypt are here. It’s also sometimes known as the Roman stronghold of Babylon as some parts of the old Roman walls still exist, a bit like St Albans then. You can’t get to London in 20 minutes from Cairo though.
Church of St Barbara – Cairo Attractions – Egypt
There are lots of smashing religious icons in this church, some parts of which date back 1500 years. It’s called after St Barbara, who converted to Christianity sometime in the third century, refusing to marry any of the Alexandria men. Her dad got very cross indeed and it all went pear-shaped, resulting in the untimely departure of St Barbara from this earth. Even, if you’re a lady, you can’t quite manage to dress modestly around town (you really should) definitely make the effort when visiting specifically religious shrines.
Pharaonic Village – Attractions in Cairo – Egypt
Oh look, it’s like Disneyland. You get in to a motorised barge and go through recreations of life in the times of the Pharoes. However, unlike Disneyland there are real people recreating scenes from ancient Egypt for you here.
Ben Ezra Synagogue – Cairo Attractions – Egypt
The oldest existing synagogue in Cairo, the Synagogue of Ben Ezra was originally named El-Shamieen Church. It is believed that the site of the Synagogue was where Baby Moses was found. Synagogue means: A prayer place for the Jews. The Ben Ezra Synagogue was originally a Christian church that the Copxs had to sell in 882A.D to pay taxes so Abraham Ben Ezra bought the church for 20,000 dinars. It’s built in the shape of a basilica, which means rectangle and has two floors, the first for men, the second for women. Or is it the other way round?
Serapeum – Attractions in Cairo – Egypt
Serapeum means ‘a building associated with the cult of the Apis bulls’, sort of. In Zoser's funerary complex at Saqqara, this serapeum was for mummified bulls. There’s a step pyramid forming a highly visible part of this huge funerary complex that was once surrounded by a 30 foot high wall. There are fourteen false doors in the wall, only one of which enters the complex. The legendary Serapeum is where the sacred bulls of Apis are buried. The temple was discovered in 1850 when the Squatting Scribe statue was discovered, which is considered to be one of the world’s greatest sculpxures.
Abu Sir Pyramids – Cairo Attractions – Egypt
There are four of the original fifteen that were once on this site. These are smaller than the Giza lot, and not in as good condition, which is surprising as they are not as old, dating in at around 2500 BC.
Giza Pyramids – Attractions in Cairo – Egypt
The Great pyramid was 481 ft high when it was built, but has unfortunately shrunk a little over the years, losing some 30 ft off the top. It was the tallest building on Earth for more than 4300 years, only to be surpassed in height in the past 100 years. It was covered with a casing of smooth stones that have all since been plundered for building in Cairo. The sides slope at angles of 51 degrees and 51 minutes and each side is aligned with one of the points of the compass. Any cross section of the pyramid is almost perfectly square anywhere up it, to a tolerance of under 0.1%.
While some aspects of the purpose, the builders, and the building methods of the pyramids remain uncertain, it’s believed that the great pyramid took 20 years to build, and little models of pulley systems have been found that point at building techniques. However, in the beat the Brochure office we believe it was obviously built by aliens, almost certainly from Mars. Okay, maybe not, but the great pyramid is a stunning sight and enduring mystery, and no trip to Egypt, at least this end of the country, would be complete without a first hand experience of the pyramids. That’s something there’s no doubt about
Mosque of Al-Azhar – Cairo Attractions – Egypt
The oldest university in the world is built around this ancient mosque, which has been the centre of Islamic scholarship for 1000 years and was the first mosque to be built in Cairo.
Alabaster Sphinx – Attractions in Cairo – Egypt
This impressive monument was carved in honour of a Pharaoh who is yet to be identified during the 18th Dynasty, which was about 3500 years ago, it’s 26 feet long, 13 feet tall and weighs 90 tons, so don’t try and pick it up, or if you must, at least keep your knees bent.
Cairo Opera House – Cairo Attractions – Egypt
The Cairo Opera House is on the Gezira Island near the Museum of Egypxian Modern Arts, Nile Gallery, the Plastic Artists' Association and El Hangar Theatre. The Cairo Opera House is undoubtedly the smartest and most modern theatre in Africa and the Middle East. As well as presenting artistes from all over the world, it’s also affiliated with the Cairo Symphony Orchestra, Cairo Ballet Company, Cairo Opera Company, Cairo Opera Choir, Arabic Music Ensemble, National Arabic Music Ensemble and the Cairo Opera Children's Choir. So there.
Colossus of Ramses II – Attractions in Cairo – Egypt
This massive statue carved in limestone is more than 33 feet long and is located in a museum building built specifically to protect it. This fellow is having a lie down; it’s suspected that he wasn’t finished. He nearly ended up in London, in the British Museum, but was too big to be moved.