Fishawi’s

Cairo

　　Probably the oldest ahwa in the city, and certainly the most celebrated, Fishawi’s has been a great place to watch the world go by since 1773. It's all clouded mirrors and copper tabletops that ooze old-world ambience. Although swamped by foreign tourists and equally wide-eyed out-of-town Egyptians, it is a...

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 centre in mid-2017, the sublime rococo interior of silk-clad and frescoed walls, carved-wood fireplaces, painted lacquerwork and a wonderful triple-arched stained-glass window overlooking the...

Ben Ezra Synagogue

Cairo

　　Just outside the walls of the Coptic enclave, the 9th-century Ben Ezra Synagogue occupies the shell of a 4th-century Christian church. Tradition marks this as the spot where the prophet Jeremiah gathered the Jews in the 6th century after Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the Jerusalem temple. The adjacent spring is supposed to...

Church of St Simeon the Tanner

Cairo

　　The Church of St Simeon the Tanner, is carved into a cave on a ridge of Muqattam Hill. Thought to be the biggest church in the Middle East, it seats 17,000 worshippers. But this church is not old, it was built in the 1970s, in a cave thought to have...

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 fabrics used for the ceremonial tents at wakes, weddings and feasts. They also hand-make intricate appliqué wall hangings, cushion covers and bedspreads, and print original...

Saqqara

Cairo

　　Covering a 7km stretch of the Western Desert, Saqqara, the huge cemetery of ancient Memphis, was an active burial ground for more than 3500 years and is Egypt’s largest archaeological site. The necropolis is situated high above the Nile Valley’s cultivation area, and is the final resting place for deceased...

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 Ages were clean. The first few buildings you pass are part of Beit El Suhaymi, a family mansion and caravanserai built in the 17th and...

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 Egypt’s rulers for 700 years. Their legacy is a collection of three very different mosques, several palaces (housing some either underwhelming, or nearly-always closed...

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 city of Al Qahira. There are interesting exhibits about the gate's history, all with thorough explanations in English, inside the gate, while up on...

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 street. The mausoleum, on the right, is a particularly intricate assemblage of inlaid stone and stucco, patterned with stars and floral motifs and...

Pyramid of Teti

Cairo

　　The Pyramid of Teti (2345–2323 BC), the first pharaoh of the 6th dynasty, was built in step form and cased in limestone, but today only a modest mound remains. In the interior you can see portions of the hieroglyphic spells of the Pyramid Texts up close, as well as a...

Step Pyramid of Zoser

Cairo

　　In the year 2650 BC, Pharaoh Zoser (2667–2648 BC) asked his chief architect, Imhotep (later deified), to build him a Step Pyramid. This is the world's earliest stone monument, and its significance cannot be overstated. The Step Pyramid is 60m high and is surrounded by a vast funerary complex, enclosed...

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 the walled Fatimid city of Al Qahira. Although they never repelled a military attack, until the French adapted them to their cannons,...

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 Sultan Hassan, a grandson of Sultan Qalaun; he took the throne at the age of 13, was deposed and reinstated no less than three...

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 everything from soap powder to semiprecious stones, not to mention tacky toy camels and alabaster pyramids. Most shops and stalls open from around 9am to well...

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 much for the elaborate woodcarving in all the galleries as for the treasures they contain. These include sculpture that shows obvious continuity from...

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 with storytellers, entertainers and food stalls. The part of Sharia Al Muizz just north of Khan Al Khalili’s gold district is known as Bein Al Qasreen,...

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 highest theological authority for Egyptian Muslims. The building is a harmonious blend of architectural styles, the result of numerous enlargements over more than...

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) most beautifully curated museums. What’s on display is only a sliver of the 80,000 objects the museum owns, but the selected items...

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 Tahrir. Inside the great domed, oddly pinkish building, the glittering treasures of Tutankhamun and other great pharaohs lie alongside the grave goods, mummies, jewellery,...

Pyramids of Giza

Cairo

　　The last remaining wonder of the ancient world; for nearly 4000 years, the extraordinary shape, impeccable geometry and sheer bulk of the Giza Pyramids have invited the obvious questions: ‘How were we built, and why?’. Centuries of research have given us parts of the answer. Built as massive tombs on...