Cairo

The Pharaonic inheritance: Giza, Saqqara and the Egyptian Museum
In Egypt’s capital, Africa’s largest metropolis and urban centre of the Arab world, Orient and Occident unite in a wedding of the yesterday, the now and the tomorrow in a fascinating way. The attractions of this “mother of all cities” are endless: each newcomer must first make a pilgrimage to the Great Pyramids of Giza. The site of the one and only of the remaining seven ancient wonders of the world, the visit to the grave chambers, the Solar Boat Museum and to the Sound & Light Show in front of the Sphinx, demonstrates impressively the uniqueness of Pharaonic culture.

The royal Necropolis of Saqqara proves to be no less astonishing. Here pioneering art works tell of the riches and creative spirit that existed in neighbouring Memphis, the first capital of the ancient Kingdom: the Step Pyramid of Djoser for example, the many mastabas with their fantastic relief decoration or the Serepeum, resting place of the holy
Apis bulls. A short excursion leads to Dahshur, a comparatively quiet  site without the crowds, where a monumental grave in perfect pyramid form was erected for the first time ever.

And then there’s the Egyptian Museum. Indubitably the most obligatory site in the city centre, filled with thousands of the most precious items from antiquity, foremost the legendary treasure of Tutankhamun.

Modern metropolis, Islamic and Old Cairo
The Islamic old town is “just” over 1000 years old: UNESCO selected over 600 architectural monuments, (among them mosques like Sultan Hassan,lbn Tulun or Al Azhar and the towering Citadel,) as worthy of particular protection and inclusion in the list of world cultural heritage sites. A row of especially exquisite mausoleums, mosques, Koran schools and caravanserais, fountains and bath houses border the Al Muizz road for 2 km, connecting the two enormous city gates Bab Al-Futuh and Bab Zuwaila. A shopping adventure becomes a joy ride for the senses in the adjacent bazaars, in particular Khan el-Khalili, al-Muski and the Tentmakers Market Khayyamia (or even in more distant markets like Kerdassa and Fustat). Further highlights are the Islamic Museum, the Gayer-Anderson House or, over in the district Dokki and on the Nile island Gezira, the Collections for Ceramics, for Modern Art, and the MahmoudKhalil Museum with its impressive collection of (post) impressionist works. Entertainment is certainly guaranteed at the many shopping malls and the well-maintained golf courses on the outskirts of town. Further recommendations for example: an afternoon on the Nile abroad a Felucca or a tourist boat and in the evening a festive performance at the modern opera house. Only a little further south, on the banks of the Nile, the district of Old Cairo looks back at nearly 2000 years of history. Worthy of thorough inspection here are the gate towers of the Roman Fort Babylon, the Coptic Museum and a number of historically important places of worship, first and foremost the Mari Girgis-, the Barbara- and the hanging Church, al-Moallaqa, the Ben Ezra-Synagogue and the oldest Mosque in Egypt named after the military commander, Amr lbn al-As.