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The pyramid of Khafre or of Chephren (Arabic: هرم خفرع, Arabic: [haram xafraʕ]) is the middle of the three Ancient Egyptian Pyramids of Giza, the second tallest and second largest of the group. It is the tomb of the Fourth-Dynasty pharaoh Khafre (Chefren), who ruled . Size The pyramid has a base length of 215.5  m (706 ft) and rises up to a height of . It is made of limestone blocks weighing more than 2 tons each. The slope of the pyramid rises at a 53° 13' angle, steeper than its neighbor, the …

The Citadel of Cairo or Citadel of Saladin (Arabic: قلعة صلاح الدين) is a medieval Islamic-era fortification in Cairo, Egypt, built by Salah ad-Din (Saladin) and further developed by subsequent Egyptian rulers. It was the seat of government in Egypt and the residence of its rulers for nearly 700 years from the 13th to the 19th centuries. Its location on a promontory of the Mokattam hills near the center of Cairo commands a strategic position overlooking the city and dominating its skyline. When …

The Great Mosque of Muhammad Ali Pasha or Alabaster Mosque (Arabic: مسجد محمد علي; Turkish: Mehmet Ali Paşa Camii) is a mosque situated in the Citadel of Cairo in Egypt and was commissioned by Muhammad Ali Pasha between 1830 and 1848. Situated on the summit of the citadel, this Ottoman mosque, the largest to be built in the first half of the 19th century, is, with its animated silhouette and twin minarets, the most visible mosque in Cairo. The mosque was built in memory of Tusun Pasha, Muhammad …

The pyramid of Menkaure is the smallest of the three main pyramids of the Giza pyramid complex, located on the Giza Plateau in the southwestern outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. It is thought to have been built to serve as the tomb of the Fourth Dynasty Egyptian Pharaoh Menkaure. Size and construction Menkaure's pyramid had an original height of , and was the smallest of the three major pyramids at the Giza Necropolis. It now stands at tall with a base of . Its angle of incline is approximately 51°20′…

The Great Sphinx of Giza is a limestone statue of a reclining sphinx, a mythical creature with the head of a human, and the body of a lion. Facing directly from west to east, it stands on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile in Giza, Egypt. The face of the Sphinx appears to represent the pharaoh Khafre. The original shape of the Sphinx was cut from the bedrock, and has since been restored with layers of limestone blocks. It measures long from paw to tail, high from the base to the top…

The Cairo Tower (, Borg El-Qāhira) is a free-standing concrete tower in Cairo, Egypt. At , it was the tallest structure in Egypt for 37 years until 1998, when it was surpassed by the Suez Canal overhead powerline crossing. It was the tallest structure in North Africa for 21 years until 1982, when it was surpassed by the Nador transmitter in Morocco. It was the tallest structure in Africa for one year until 1962, when it was surpassed by Sentech Tower in South Africa. One of Cairo's well-known mo…

Khan el-Khalili (Arabic: خان الخليلي) is a famous bazaar and souq (or souk) in the historic center of Cairo, Egypt. Established as a center of trade in the Mamluk era and named for one of its several historic caravanserais, the bazaar district has since become one of Cairo's main attractions for tourists and Egyptians alike. It is also home to many Egyptian artisans and workshops involved in the production of traditional crafts and souvenirs. The name Khan el-Khalili historically referred to a s…

The Egyptian Museum in Cairo, commonly known as the Egyptian Museum, located in Cairo, Egypt, houses the largest collection of Egyptian antiquities in the world. It houses over 120,000 items, with a representative amount on display. Located in a building built in 1901, it is the largest museum in Africa. Among its masterpieces are Pharaoh Tutankhamun's treasure, including its iconic gold burial mask, widely considered one of the best-known works of art in the world and a prominent symbol of anci…

Tahrir Square (Arabic: ميدان التحرير , , English: Liberation Square), also known as "Martyr Square", is a major public town square in downtown Cairo, Egypt. The square has been the location and focus for political demonstrations in Cairo since the early 20th century; the city's previous central square was Salah al-Din Square. The 2011 Egyptian revolution and the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak occurred at the Tahrir Square. History The square was originally called "Ismailia Square" ( ), …

Islamic Cairo (Arabic: قاهرة المعز), or Medieval Cairo, officially Historic Cairo (القاهرة التاريخية al-Qāhira tārīkhiyya) refers mostly to the areas of Cairo, Egypt, that were built from the Muslim conquest in 641 CE until the city's modern expansion in the 19th century during Khedive Ismail's rule, namely: the central parts within the old walled city, the historic cemeteries, the area around the Citadel of Cairo, parts of Bulaq, and Old Cairo () which dates back to Roman times and includes maj…

The Mosque of Ibn Tulun (Arabic: مسجد إبن طولون) is located in Cairo, Egypt. It is one of the oldest mosques in Egypt as well as the whole of Africa surviving in its full original form, and is the largest mosque in Cairo in terms of land area. It is built around an open square courtyard which allows natural light to travel through. Ibn Tulun Mosque features ancient architecture styles of Egypt, its decorations being created from carved stucco and wood. This mosque is a popular tourist attraction…

The Qalawun complex (Arabic: مجمع قلاون) is a massive pious complex in Cairo, Egypt, built by Sultan al-Mansur Qalawun from 1284 to 1285. It is located at Bayn al-Qasrayn on al-Mu'izz street and like many other pious complexes includes a hospital (bimaristan), a madrasa and mausoleum. Despite controversy surrounding its construction, this building is widely regarded as one of the major monuments of Islamic Cairo and of Mamluk architecture, notable for the size and scope of its contributions to l…

Coptic Cairo is a part of Old Cairo which encompasses the Babylon Fortress, the Coptic Museum, the Hanging Church, the Greek Church of St. George and many other Coptic churches and historical sites. It is believed in Christian tradition that the Holy Family visited this area and stayed at the site of Saints Sergius and Bacchus Church (Abu Serga). Coptic Cairo was a stronghold for Christianity in Egypt both before and during the Islamic era, as most of its churches were built after the Muslim co…

The Mosque of Amr ibn al-As (Arabic: جامع عمرو بن العاص), or Taj al-Jawame' (Arabic: تاج الجوامِع), or Masjid Ahl ar-Rayah (Arabic: مسجد اهل الرّاية), or Jame’ al-Ateeq (Arabic: جامِع العتِيق), was originally built in 641–642 AD, as the center of the newly founded capital of Egypt, Fustat. The original structure was the first mosque ever built in Egypt and the whole of Africa. For 600 years, the mosque was also an important center of Islamic learning until Al-Muizz's Al-Azhar Mosque in Islamic …

The Aqmar Mosque (), was built in Cairo, Egypt, as a neighborhood mosque by the Fatimid vizier al-Ma'mun al-Bata'ihi in 1125-6 CE (519 Hijri). The mosque is situated on what was once the main avenue and ceremonial heart of Cairo, known today as al-Mu'izz Street, in the immediate neighborhood of the former Fatimid caliphal palaces. The mosque is an important monument of Fatimid architecture and of historic Cairo due to the exceptional decoration of its exterior façade and the innovative design of…

The al-Hussein Mosque or al-Husayn Mosque, also known as the Mosque of al-Imam al-Husayn (Arabic: مسجد الإمام ٱلحُسين) and the Mosque of Sayyidna al-Husayn, is a mosque and mausoleum of Husayn ibn Ali, originally built in 1154, and then later reconstructed in 1874. The mosque is located in Cairo, Egypt, near the Khan El-Khalili bazaar, near-by the famous Al Azhar Mosque, in an area known as Al-Hussain. It is considered to be one of the holiest Islamic sites in Egypt. Some Shia Muslims believe th…

The Cairo Marriott Hotel is a large hotel located in the Zamalek district of Gezira Island in Egypt and is just west of Downtown Cairo. It is one of the tallest buildings in Cairo. The Marriott opened in 1982, but its central wing was built as the Gezirah Palace for the Khedive Isma'il Pasha in 1869 and converted to a luxury hotel in 1894. Hotel The hotel consists of 1,087 rooms, making it one of the largest hotels in the Middle East. The rooms are located in two identical twenty-story buildings…

Abdeen District is the home of Abdeen Palace (Arabic: قصر عابدين), a 19th Century Cairo palace built by Khedive Ismail and served as Egypt's seat of government from 1874 until the July Revolution in 1952. Since then it is one of the presidential palaces. The palace is centered in its eponymous district, administratively part of the Western Area of Cairo, and part of the Khedival Cairo Area of Value to the west of Historic Cairo. Overview Built on the site of a small mansion owned by Abdeen Bey, …

The Giza pyramid complex (also called the Giza necropolis) in Egypt is home to the Great Pyramid, the Pyramid of Khafre, and the Pyramid of Menkaure, along with their associated pyramid complexes and the Great Sphinx. All were built during the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom of ancient Egypt, between 2500 and 2600 BC. The site also includes several temples and cemeteries and the remains of a workers' village. The site is at the edges of the Western Desert, approximately west of the Nile River…

The Qasr el Nil Bridge (originally named Khedive Ismail Bridge, Egyptian Arabic: Asr el Nil Bridge), is a historic swing bridge structure dating from 1931 which replaced the first bridge to span the Nile River in central Cairo, Egypt. It connects Tahrir Square in Downtown Cairo on the east bank of the river, to the southern end of Gezira/Zamalek Island. At the bridge's east and west approaches are four large bronze lion statues; they are late 19th-century works by Henri Alfred Jacquemart, Frenc…

The Mosque of Amir Altinbugha al-Maridani, dating from 1340 CE, is a mosque from the era of the Mamluk Sultanate of Cairo, Egypt. Located south of Bab Zuweila, in the Darb al-Ahmar neighbourhood, it was built on the outskirts of medieval Cairo by Amir Altinbugha al-Maridani, with significant help from Sultan al-Nasir Muhammad. The mosque has a hypostyle plan similar to the Mosque of al-Nasir, and its exterior walls are decorated in typical Mamluk architecture style. At the time of its building, …

Saint Virgin Mary's Coptic Orthodox Church ( Church of Mother of God Saint Mary in Egyptian Babylon), also known as the Hanging Church (Arabic: الكنيسة المعلقة, ), is one of the oldest churches in Egypt which dates to the third century. It belongs to the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. Name and description The Hanging Church is named for its location above a gatehouse of Babylon Fortress, the Roman fortress in Coptic Cairo (Old Cairo); its nave is suspended over a passage. The church is ap…

Ahmed Shawki Museum is a writer's house museum dedicated to the poet and dramatist Ahmed Shawki (1869–1932). Location It is located on the Nile Corniche, Giza part of Cairo, Egypt. History The museum is named after and dedicated to the poet and dramatist Ahmed Shawki (1869–1932), who used to live in ‘Karmet Ibn Hani’ or Ibn Hani’s Vineyardin كرمة ابن هانىء at Al-Matariyyah area near the palace of the Khedive Abbas II at Saray El-Qobba until he was exiled. After returning to Egypt, he built a new…

All Saints' Cathedral, Cairo was consecrated in 1988 and is the home of the Episcopal/Anglican Diocese of Egypt with North Africa and the Horn of Africa. The cathedral is located close to the Marriott Hotel in Zamalek, a residential area of the city that sits on an island in the middle of the River Nile. The building and land were donated by the Egyptian government. The cathedral compound also houses the Diocesan and Bishop's offices and projects and services – including the Diocese NGO EpiscoCa…