Fairmont Nile City, Cairo

This is where the history of Egypt begins, in the shadow of the Great Pyramids of Giza, where stone meets sky as a testament to one of the greatest civilizations on earth. Here on the plateau of Giza, 2,300,000 blocks of stone - some weighing as much as 9 tons - were used to build an eternal tomb for a divine king. It is said that the labor force that built Cheops (Khufu the Great Pyramid) totaled more than 100,000 people. Modern Egyptologists believe the real number is closer to 20,000.

The Egyptian Museum was first built in Beaulac. In 1891, it was moved to Giza Palace of “Ismail Pasha” which housed the antiquities that were later moved to the present building. The Egyptian Museum is situated at Tahrir square in Cairo. It was built during the reign of Khedive Abbass Helmi in 1897, and opened on November 15, 1902. It has 107 halls. The museum is divided into several sections, within these, one is able to view different statues and monuments, along with jewels, Tutankhamen treasures, and mummies. There is a hall dedicated to housing the royal mummies, which consists of eleven kings and queens. More than a million and a half tourists visit the museum annually in addition to half a million Egyptians.

In a depression to the south of Chephren’s (Khafra Pyramid at Giza) near Cairo, sits a huge creature with the head of a human and the body of a lion. Where it sits was once a quarry, it is believe that Chephren’s workers shaped the stone into the lion and gave it their king’s face over 4,500 years ago as Khafra’s name was mentioned on the Dream Stele, which sits between the paws of the great beast. Recently, however, it has been argued that Cheops, builder of the Great Pyramid, may also have been the inspiration behind the Great Sphinx.

Khan El Khalili was once known as the Turkish Bazaar during the Ottoman period. Named for the great caravansary, the market was built in 1382 by the Emir Djaharks El Khalili in the heart of the Fatimid City. Together with the Al-Muski market to the west, they comprise one of Cairo’s most important shopping areas. But more than that, they represent the market tradition which established Cairo as a major center of trade.

While Memphis was the capital of Ancient Egypt, Saqqara served as its necropolis. It was eclipsed as the burial ground of royalty by Giza and later by the Valley of the Kings in Thebes. It remained an important complex for minor burials and cult ceremonies for more than 3,000 years, well into Ptolemaic and Roman times. Imhotep designed the step pyramid of Saqqara for King Djoser (c. 2667-2648 BC.) It is the oldest complete hewn-stone building complex known in history. It is also the location of the newly opened Imhotep Museum in 2006.

One of Cairo’s most popular tourist attractions is the Citadel which houses a number of museums, ancient mosques and other sites. The Citadel is one of the world’s greatest monuments to medieval warfare, as well as a highly visible landmark on Cairo’s eastern skyline. The Ottoman Muhammad Ali Pasha, one of the great builders of Modern Egypt, came to power in 1805 and was responsible for considerable alteration and building within the Citadel. Today there is also a National Police Museum at the Citadel. It was built over the site of the Mamluk Palace just opposite the Mosque of An-Nasir Muhammed. It has displays of law enforcement dating back to the dynastic period.

The legendary Sound and Light shows are playing at the world renowned Pyramids of Giza, Temples of Karnak, Philae, and Abu Simbel, four of the UNESCO World Heritage sites. Their historical and cultural values are simply beyond description. Latest lighting, laser, and projection technologies are utilized to visualize mysteries of the Pharonic civilization. Every year, hundreds of thousands attend these magnificent spectaculars to relive the legend.

One of Cairo's many epitaphs is the "City of 1,000 Minarets.” Cairo holds one of the greatest concentrations of historical monuments of Islamic architecture in the world including Al-Azhar Mosque. While there are hundreds of old mosques to visit in Cairo, there is none that can compete with Al-Azhar Mosque in standing and importance to the history of Islam. Founded by the Fatimids in 970 AD, the mosque is dedicated to both worship and learning. It developed over the centuries into the most important center of Islamic theology and learning in the world. While the first mosque in Egypt was the Mosque of Amr Ibn Al-As, the Mosque of Ibn Tulun is the oldest mosque to retain its original form and the largest mosque in Cairo. The mosque was commissioned by Ahmad Ibn Tulun, the Turkish ruler of Egypt from 868 to 884 and is famed for its lovely architecture and unique minaret. One of the finest examples of Mamluk architecture in the world is Al-Sultan Hassan Mosque. The mosque is located near the Citadel, specifically in Salah El Din Square, sometimes referred to as Qala's Square. Built between 1356 and 1363 by the Mamluk ruler Sultan Hassan, the scale of the mosque is so colossal that it nearly emptied the vast Mamluk treasury. The Mosque of Sultan Hassan is one of the largest mosques in the world, measuring 150 meters in length and covering an area of 7,906 sqm. Its walls rise to 36 meters and its tallest minaret to 68 meters. Next to Sultan Hassan stands another monumental looking mosque that seems similar in style although it was not completed until 1912, Al-Rifa'i Mosque. The mosque was commissioned as an imitation of Mamluk style by the mother of Khedive Ismail, Khushyar Hanim. The mosque’s construction took 40 years and now contains the tombs of many royal family members in Egypt, which is the reason why Khushyar Hanim wanted it built in the first place.