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Mosque of Ibn Tulun
Walking west along busy Sharia as-Saliba you'll come to the wonderful Mosque of Ibn Tulun, built between AD 876 and 879 by Ibn Tulun, who was sent to rule Cairo in the 9th century by the Abbasid caliph of Baghdad. The city's oldest intact, functioning Islamic monument, it's also one of its most beautiful. True to his origins, Ibn Tulun drew inspiration from his homeland, particularly the ancient Mosque of Samarra (Iraq).
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Mosque of Mohammed Ali
The fortress - and indeed, the Cairo skyline - is dominated by the Mosque of Mohammed Ali. Modelled along classic Turkish lines, it took 18 years to build (1830-48) although the domes later had to be rebuilt. Perhaps the most evocative description of it is in Olivia Manning's The Levant Trilogy : 'Above them Mohammed Ali's alabaster mosque, uniquely white in this sand-coloured city, sat with minarets pricked, like a fat, white, watchful cat'.
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Mosque of Qaitbey
Sultan Qaitbey, a prolific builder, was the last Mamluk leader with any real power in Egypt. He ruled for 28 years and, though he was as ruthless as any Mamluk sultan, he was also something of an aesthete. The Mosque of Qaitbey, completed in 1474 and depicted on the around £E1 note, is widely agreed to mark the pinnacle of Islamic building in Cairo.
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Mosque of Qijmas al-Ishaqi
One of the best examples of architecture from the Mamluk period is the 1481 Mosque of Qijmas al-Ishaqi. Don't be deceived by the plain exterior: inside are beautiful stained-glass windows, inlaid marble floors and stucco walls.
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Mosque of Sayyidna al-Hussein
The Mosque of Sayyidna al-Hussein, one of the most sacred Islamic sites in Egypt, is the reputed burial place of the head of Al-Hussein, grandson of the Prophet. Due to the importance of this holy relic, non-Muslims are not allowed inside the mosque. Most of the current building dates only from about 1870 and is of little interest to travellers, except perhaps for the beautiful 14th-century stucco panels on the minaret.
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Mosque of Suleiman Pasha
Devotees of Islamic architecture might appreciate the 1528 Mosque of Suleiman Pasha, a far more tasteful example of the Ottoman-style domed mosque.
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Mosque of Suleiman Silahdar
Built comparatively late, in 1839, during the reign of Mohammed Ali. It's distinguished by its thin, Turkish-inspired minaret and the graceful, curvaceous lines along its façade, with a rounded sabil-kuttab (water fountain and school) on the corner.
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Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan
The Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan is regarded as the finest piece of early-Mamluk architecture in Cairo. It was built between 1356 and 1363 by the troubled Sultan Hassan, who took the throne at the age of 13, was deposed and reinstated no less than three times and was assassinated shortly before the mosque was completed. Tragedy also shadowed the construction when one of the minarets collapsed, killing 300 or so onlookers.
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Mr & Mrs Mahmoud Khalil Museum
The wonderful Mr & Mrs Mahmoud Khalil Museum includes sculptures by Rodin and a rich selection of French works by the likes of Delacroix, Gauguin, Toulouse-Lautrec, Manet, Monet and Pissarro. There are also some Rubens, Sisleys and a Picasso. The paintings are housed in a temperature-controlled villa, the former home of Khalil, which was later taken over by President Sadat. It's just a few minutes' walk south of the Cairo Sheraton.
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Museo Mevlevi
Behind a green door with an Italian Institute sign, the Museo Mevlevi centres on a meticulously restored Ottoman-era theatre for whirling dervishes. Hidden behind stone façades, the beautiful wood structure feels like a little jewel box. Downstairs, see the remains of the madrassa that forms the building's foundation; the thorough notes are a rare model of thoughtful excavation.
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Museum of Islamic Ceramics
A beautiful small museum. It's housed in a gorgeous 1924 Islamic Revival villa, where the intricately carved walls (and vintage bathroom!) are as fascinating as the colourful plates, tiles and even 11th-century hand grenades on display. The garden and back of the building are given over to the Gezira Art Center, with several galleries hosting rotating contemporary exhibitions.
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Museum of Modern Egyptian Art
Across from the Cairo Opera House, the Museum of Modern Egyptian Art houses an impressive collection of 20th- and 21st-century Egyptian art, including Mahmoud Said's masterpiece Al Madina ( The City , 1937). The ground floor is home to the museum's high-profile 'Art Today' exhibition, which showcases works by 95 artists produced from 1975 to the present day.
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National Military Museum
Mohammed Ali's one-time Harem Palace is now the lavish National Military Museum and perhaps the best-tended exhibition in the country. Endless plush-carpeted halls are lined with dioramas depicting great moments in warfare, from Pharaonic times to the 20th-century conflicts with Israel - kitschy fun to start, then eventually a bit depressing.
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NB
General expat opinion holds that the best stables near the Sphinx are NB, owned by Naser Breesh, who's praised for his healthy steeds and good guides; his place can be tricky to find: head down the street by the Sphinx poster off the main square where horses are gathered, or ask for directions to the Sphinx Club, as the stables are just behind it.
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Nilometer
Built in AD 861, the Nilometer was designed to measure the rise and fall of the Nile, and thus predict the fortunes of the annual harvest. If the Nile rose to 16 cubits (a cubit is about the length of a forearm) the harvest was likely to be good, giving people reason to celebrate, though also to fear the higher taxes that came with abundance. The conical dome was added in a 19th-century restoration.
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Northern Cemetery
The Northern Cemetery is the more interesting half of a vast necropolis known popularly as the City of the Dead. The titillating name refers to the fact that the cemeteries are not only resting places for Cairo's dead, but for the living too. Visitors expecting morbid squalor may be disappointed; the area, complete with power lines, a post office and multistorey buildings, is more 'town' than 'shanty'.
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October War Panorama
Built with help from North Korean artists, this memorial to the 1973 'victory' over Israel is an extraordinary propaganda effort. A stirring commentary (in Arabic only) recounts the heroic victories, but is short on detail on the successful Israeli counterattacks that pushed the Egyptians back before both sides accepted a UN-brokered cease-fire.
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Omar Makram Mosque
Omar Makram Mosque is the place where anybody who's anybody has a funeral.
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Police Museum
The flyblown Police Museum, at the northern end of the terrace, includes displays on famous political assassinations, complete in some cases with the murder weapon.
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Postal Museum
A beautifully maintained collection of stamps, uniforms and even tiny scale models of great post offices throughout Egypt.
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Pyramid of Khafre
Southwest of the Great Pyramid, the Pyramid of Khafre seems larger than that of his father, Khufu. At just 136m high, it's not, but it stands on higher ground and its peak is still capped with a limestone casing. Originally all three pyramids were totally encased with polished white stone, which would have made them gleam in the sun. Over the centuries, this casing has been stripped for use in palaces and mosques, exposing the softer inner-core stones to the elements.
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Pyramid of Menkaure
At 62m (originally 66.5m), the Pyramid of Menkaure is the smallest of the trio. A gash in the north face is the result of an attempt by Saladin's son Malek Abdel Aziz to dismantle the pyramid in AD 1186. He gave up after eight months, having achieved little. Outside the pyramid you'll see the excavated remains of Menkaure's funerary temple and, further east, the ruins of his valley temple, less excavated.
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Pyramids of Giza
The sole survivor of the Seven Wonders of the World, the Pyramids of Giza still live up to more than 4000 years of hype. Their extraordinary shape, geometry and age render them somehow alien constructions; they seem to rise out of the desert and pose the ever-fascinating question, 'How were we built, and why?'.
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Qasr al-Baron
You can't miss the extraordinary Baron's Palace, a Hindu-style temple modelled on the temples of Angkor Wat in Cambodia, with Buddhas, geishas, elephants and serpents adorning the exterior. The fantastical look of the place contributed to a citywide panic in 1997 about 'Satanists' allegedly holding rituals here - turned out they were a bunch of upper-class teenage heavy-metal fans. A decade later, the ruin is still very much off-limits.
