Things to do in Cairo
Top sights and attractions to build your days around once you know when to go.
Cairo
Cairo is the capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate. It is home to more than 9.8 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world, and the Middle East. The Greater Cairo metropolitan area is one of the largest in the world by population with over 22 million people. Areas of what would become Cairo were inhabited from pre-dynastic and early-dynastic ancient Egypt c. 6000 years ago, as the Giza pyramid complex and the ancient cities of Memphis and Heliopolis are today within the city.
Heliopolis
Heliopolis was a major city of ancient Egypt. It was the capital of the Heliopolite or 13th Nome of Lower Egypt and a major religious centre. Its site is within the boundaries of Ain Shams and El Matareya districts (kism) in northeastern Cairo.
Egyptian Museum
The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, commonly known as the Egyptian Museum and also called the Cairo Museum or the Egyptian Museum in Cairo (EMC), is a national history museum in Cairo, Egypt.
Mosque of Ibn Tulun
The Mosque of Ibn Tulun is a mosque in Islamic Cairo, Egypt. Built between 876 and 879 CE by its namesake, Ahmad ibn Tulun, it is the oldest well-preserved mosque in Egypt. Its design was inspired by the 9th-century mosques of Samarra in Iraq, the Abbasid capital at the time, making it an important representative of classical Abbasid architecture. It is one of the most significant monuments of Islamic architecture in Egypt.
El-Fustat
Fusṭāṭ was the first capital of Egypt under Muslim rule, nowadays part of Cairo. It was built adjacent to what is now known as Old Cairo by the Rashidun Muslim general ʿAmr ibn ul-ʿĀṣ immediately after the Muslim conquest of Egypt in AD 641, and featured the Mosque of ʿAmr, the first mosque built in Egypt.
al-Azhar Mosque
Al-Azhar Mosque, known in Egypt simply as al-Azhar, is a mosque in the historic Islamic core of the city of Cairo, Egypt. Commissioned as the new capital of the Fatimid Caliphate in 970 CE, it was the first mosque established in a city that eventually earned the nickname "the City of a Thousand Minarets". Its name is usually thought to derive from az-Zahrāʾ, a title given to Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad.
Mosque of Amr ibn al-As
The Amr ibn al-As Mosque is a mosque, located in the Fustat neighbourhood of Old Cairo, Egypt. Named in honour of the Arab Muslim commander Amr ibn al-As, the mosque was built in c. 642 CE as the centre of the newly founded capital of Egypt, Fustat. The original structure was the first mosque built in Egypt and one of the first in Africa. For 600 years, the mosque was also an important centre of Islamic learning until it was replaced by al-Muizz's Al-Azhar Mosque in Islamic Cairo. Through the twentieth century, it was the fourth largest mosque in the Islamic world.
Muhammad Ali Mosque
The Muhammad Ali Mosque, also known as the Mosque of Muhammad Ali, is a mosque located in the Citadel of Cairo, Egypt. It was commissioned by Muhammad Ali Pasha and built between 1832 and 1857. Overlooking the city, it is one of the most visible mosques and landmarks in the skyline of Cairo. Unlike the traditional Cairene architecture that preceded it, the mosque was built in an entirely Ottoman and European-influenced style, further setting it apart from other monuments. It is sometimes called the Alabaster Mosque due to the prominent use of alabaster as a covering for its walls.
Cairo International Stadium
The Cairo International Stadium, formerly known as Nasser Stadium, is an Olympic-standard, multi-use stadium with an all-seated capacity of 75,000. The architect of the stadium is the German Werner March, who designed the Olympic Stadium in Berlin from 1934 to 1936. The engineering and construction supervision of the stadium was performed by ACE Moharram Bakhoum. It is the 69th largest stadium in the world and the 3rd largest stadium in Egypt.
Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan
The Mosque-Madrasa of Sultan Hasan is a monumental mosque and madrasa located in Salah al-Din Square in the historic district of Cairo, Egypt. It was built between 1356 and 1363 CE during the Bahri Mamluk period, commissioned by Sultan an-Nasir Hasan. The mosque was considered remarkable for its massive size and innovative architectural components, and is still considered one of the most impressive historic monuments in Cairo today.
Al-Hakim Mosque
The al-Hakim Mosque, also known as al-Anwar, is a mosque in Cairo, Egypt. It is named after al-Ḥākim bi-Amr Allāh (985–1021), the 6th Fatimid caliph and 16th Ismāʿīlī Imam. Construction of the mosque was originally started by Caliph al-ʿAziz, the son of al-Muʿizz and the father of al-Ḥākim, in 990 CE. It was completed in 1013 by al-Ḥākim, which is why it is named after him.
Hanging Church
Saint Virgin Mary's Coptic Orthodox Church, also known as the Hanging Church, is one of the oldest churches in Egypt which dates to the third century. It belongs to the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria.
Places from Wikidata and Wikipedia.
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