Must-see attractions in Cairo

  • Pyramids of Giza during sunset.

    Pyramids of Giza

    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…

  • A guide briefs tourists before canopic jars which contained the organs of the ancient Egyptian New Kingdom Pharaoh Tutankhamun (1332-1323 BC) at his tomb KV62, displayed with the Tutankhamun collection at the Egyptian Museum in the centre of Egypt's capital Cairo on November 6, 2022. - The resting place of Egypt's pharaoh Tutankhamun has become the world's most famous tomb, its discovery 100 years ago among the greatest archaeological discoveries of all time.

    Egyptian Museum

    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, Egypt - October 26, 2019: Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo; Shutterstock ID 1557780782; your: Sloane Tucker; gl: 65050; netsuite: Online Editorial; full: POI
1557780782

    Museum of Islamic Art

    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)…

  • Al-Azhar mosque in Cairo.

    Al Azhar Mosque

    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…

  • The minaret of Qalawun complex rises over Al-Muizz street.

    Sharia Al Muizz Li Din Allah

    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…

  • The Coptic Museum in Cairo, Egypt.

    Coptic Museum

    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…

  • Lantern shop in the Khan El Khalili market in Cairo.

    Khan Al Khalili

    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.

    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…

  • The Qalawun complex in Cairo.

    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…

  • El-Khayamiya (Tentmakers) street in Cairo, Egypt.

    Tentmakers Market

    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…

  • View of the Citadel from Al-Azhar Park

    Al Azhar Park

    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, Egypt - December 24, 2017:  Mihrab of Manial Palace mosque decorated with intricate golden patterns on carved wood, muqarnas in arch, bright blue tiles inside of niche, on December 24 in Cairo

    Manial Palace

    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 Tower

    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…

  • Aisha Fahmy Palace

    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, Egypt, North Africa, Africa

    Bab Zuweila

    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…

  • Mosque of Qaitbey

    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…

  • Pyramids in Giza
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    Great Pyramid of Khufu

    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,…

  • Great Sphinx of Giza, a limestone statue of a mythical creature with a lion's body and a human head), Giza Plateau, West Bank of the Nile, Giza, Egypt
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    Sphinx

    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…

  • Camels and horse-drawn carriages next to Khafre's pyramid in Giza.

    Pyramid of Khafre

    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…

  • The Pyramid of Menkaure, the smallest of the three pyramids of Giza in Giza Plateau in Cairo, Egypt.

    Pyramid of Menkaure

    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…

  • The Cairo Citadel with the Muhammad Ali Mosque

    Citadel

    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…

  • Northern Cemetery

    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…

  • Beit El Suhaymi

    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…

  • Bab Al Futuh

    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…

  • Baron's Palace

    Cairo

    Baron Empain lived in a fantastical and highly eccentric Hindu temple–inspired mansion, with the facade bedecked with elephants and serpents…

  • Mosque of Sayyidna Al Hussein

    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…

  • The great Mosque of Muhammad Ali Pasha or Alabaster Mosque is a mosque situated in the Citadel of Cairo in Egypt and commissioned by Muhammad Ali Pasha between 1830 and 1848.

    Mosque of Mohammed Ali

    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…

  • Midan Al Hussein

    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 Marriott Hotel

    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…

  • Egyptian Textile Museum

    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…

  • Mosque of Al Aqmar

    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…

  • Hanging Church

    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…

  • Hammam Inal

    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…

  • Mosque of Ibn Tulun

    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…

  • Gayer-Anderson Museum

    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…

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