Church of St Sergius & Bacchus
Cairo
This is the oldest church inside Coptic Cairo's walls, built in the 11th century with 4th-century pillars. It honours the Roman soldiers Sergius and…
Must-see attractions in Cairo
Giza
Immediately south of the Great Pyramid is this fascinating museum with exactly one object on display: one of Cheops' five solar barques (boats), buried…
Cairo
At the very southern tip of Roda, inside the Monastirli Palace compound, the Nilometer was constructed in AD 861. Like others built millennia before, it…
Giza
The artisans of the Wissa Wassef Art Centre, who work in open studios, are known for their distinctive tapestries depicting rural scenes. Crude imitations…
Madrassa & Mausoleum of As Salih Ayyub
Cairo
This complex was built between 1242 and 1244 by the last Ayyubid sultan of Egypt, Al Salih Najm Al Din Ayyub, who died defending Egypt against the…
Cairo
Created by French-Tunisian street artist eL Seed, this mammoth mural of swirling Arabic calligraphy covers 50 buildings in Manshiyet Nasr and quotes St…
Umm Kulthum Museum & Monastirli Palace
Cairo
Set in a peaceful Nileside garden, Monastirli Palace was built in 1851 for an Ottoman pasha whose family hailed from Monastir, in northern Greece. The…
Cairo
Sharia Al Gamaliyya was the heart of a trading district in medieval Cairo, and a major thoroughfare. Today it's more like a back alley with a real local…
Cairo
Just outside the walls of the Coptic enclave, the 9th-century Ben Ezra Synagogue occupies the shell of a 4th-century Christian church. Tradition marks…
Giza
In this cemetery, on the eastern flank of the Queen's Pyramids, you can still see the perfectly smooth limestone facing along the bases of some structures…
Church of St Simeon the Tanner
Cairo
The Church of St Simeon the Tanner, is carved into a cave on a ridge of Muqattam Hill. Thought to be the biggest church in the Middle East, it seats 17…
Cairo
Cairo’s main train station, built in its current style in 1892, is an attractive marriage of Islamic style and industrial-age engineering – at least on…
Cairo
In AD 98 the Roman emperor Trajan enlarged an existing fortress here, called Babylon, likely a corruption of Per-hapi-en-on (Estate of the Nile God at On)…
Cairo
Just north of the Amir Taz Palace, behind a green door with an Italian Institute sign, this museum is essentially a meticulously restored Ottoman-era sama…
Greek Orthodox Monastery & Church of St George
Cairo
The first doorway north of the Coptic Museum gate leads to the Greek Orthodox Monastery and Church of St George. St George (Mar Girgis) is one of the…
Cairo
As the closest monument to the Bab Al Mahruq entrance to Al Azhar Park, this mosque makes a good landmark for finding your way there. The 14th-century…
Cairo
Mukhtar (1891–1934) was the sculptor laureate of independent Egypt, responsible for Saad Zaghloul on the nearby roundabout and the Egypt Reawakening…
Cairo
Dwarfed by Mohammed Ali’s mosque, this beautiful 1318 mosque is the only Mamluk work that Mohammed Ali didn’t demolish – instead, he used it as a stable…
Cairo
Built in AD 1504 by the Mamluk sultan Al Ghouri, this wikala was originally designed as an inn for traders following the caravan routes from the east and…
Cairo
This remarkable mosque, built in 1481 by Prince Sayf Al Din Qijmas, above a row of shops, is one of Cairo's best examples of Mamluk architecture. Its…
Cairo
On the western side of Sharia Al Muizz, opposite the mausoleum, is the second part of Al Ghouri's funerary complex, the intimate and richly decorated…
Cairo
Built into the Fatimid walls between 1415 and 1421, the red-and-white-striped Mosque of Al Mu’ayyad Shaykh was laid out on the site of a prison where its…
Cairo
The penultimate Mamluk sultan Al Ghouri built his funerary complex in 1504, on both sides of Sharia Al Muizz. At the age of 78, Al Ghouri was beheaded in…
Cairo
At the corner past Abu Sarga, the Church of St Barbara is dedicated to a martyr who was beaten to death by her father for trying to convert him to…
Cairo
This is one of about 20 remaining wikala (merchants’ inn) in the medieval city, down from about 360 in the 17th century, when this one was built. All were…
Cairo
This tiny alley is Islamic Cairo's literary star thanks to being immortalised in Naguib Mahfouz's famous novel named after the street. Although the…
Cairo
Built in 1347 and well restored in 2015, this building is highly touted by would-be guides, but it’s nothing like its Istanbul namesake. It’s classic…
Giza
Private cemeteries are tucked into the hill alongside the causeways, as well as arrayed in neat rows around the Pyramids in a grid pattern. Only a few of…
Cairo
Set amid car-repair shops, Townhouse is Cairo’s most cutting-edge space, with a regular program of temporary exhibitions, often with an emphasis on video…
Cairo
This 1339 building incorporates architectural elements from several different periods: eight granite columns were taken from a Pharaonic monument; the…
Complex of Sultan Ashraf Barsbey
Cairo
Enclosed by a stone wall midway between Barquq’s Mausoleum and the Mosque of Qaitbey is the funerary complex of Barsbey, who ruled from 1422 to 1438. Most…
Cairo
Bustling and buzzing, the market street known as Sharia Al Muski begins in the khan where it's formally called Sharia Gawhar Al Qaid and is lined by tacky…
Cairo
Opposite the grand Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Hassan, the Mosque of Ar Rifai is constructed on a similarly imposing scale, begun in 1869 and not finished…
Cairo
This art initiative often hosts excellent temporary art and photography exhibitions; check the website to see if anything is showing while you're in town…
Giza
The bas-reliefs of daily life – scenes depict farming and craftspeople as well as Meresankh's family – inside this 4th dynasty tomb provide a colourful…
Giza
At the north end of the Western Cemetery, the Tomb of Senegemib-Inti contains interesting inscriptions, including a rather vicious-looking hippopotamus,…
Cairo
The western entrance into Al Azhar Park is through the medieval gate of Bab Al Mahruq in the old Ayyubid walls.
Cairo
Completed in 1013, the vast and starkly plain Mosque of Al Hakim built into the northern walls, is one of Cairo’s older mosques, but it was rarely used…
Cairo
Midan Tahrir (Liberation Sq) gained world renown in early 2011, when millions of Egyptians converged here to oust then-president Hosni Mubarak. On a…
Cairo
Unless you're into armaments (or over-the-top golden objects gifted to various Egyptian presidents), Abdeen Palace can easily be missed. Today the once…
