Overview

Our tour guide will pick you up from your hotel around 8:30 by private vehicle to enjoy the Cairo city, visiting The Egyptian Museum is the oldest archaeological museum in the Middle East, and houses the largest collection of Pharaonic antiquities in the world. The museum displays an extensive collection spanning from the Predynastic Period to the Greco-Roman Era.

Among the museum’s unrivaled collection are the complete burials of Yuya and Thuya, Psusennes I and the treasures of Tanis, and the Narmer Palette commemorating the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under one king, which is also among the museum’s invaluable artifacts. The museum also houses the splendid statues of the great kings Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure, the builders of the pyramids at the Giza plateau. An extensive collection of papyri, sarcophagi and jewelry, among other objects, completes this uniquely expansive museum.

– Visit The Cairo Citadel
The Citadel of Sultan Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi (Saladin) is one of the most iconic monuments in Islamic Cairo, and among the most impressive defensive fortresses dating to the Middle Ages. Its strategic location on the Muqattam Hills gave it a formidable defensive position, and offered, as it still does today, an unrestricted panoramic view of Cairo.

The Citadel witnessed some of the most significant events in Egyptian history from the time it was built to the end of the Muhammad Ali Dynasty, which was in power from the early nineteenth century. Many monuments were added to the Citadel over the centuries, providing visitors today with an array of places to visit, such as the Mosque of Muhammad Ali Pasha, which dominates the Citadel. Other places to visit include the mosque of the Mamluk sultan al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qalawun, the Ottoman-era Sulayman Pasha al-Khadim Mosque, as well as a number of museums such as the Police Museum, Al-Jawhara Palace Museum, and the Military Museum.

– Visit the Mosque and Madrasa of Sultan Hasan
The Mosque and Madrasa of Sultan Hasan is one of the largest and architecturally exquisite mosques in all of Egypt. It was commissioned by the Mamluk sultan Hasan ibn al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qalawun sometime between 1356 AD and1362 AD,

The mosque consists of an open courtyard with fountain in its centre. The courtyard is surrounded by four iwans (a rectangular space that is open on one side). Doorways at the four corners of the courtyard allow access into four madrasas, educational institutions, where the four Sunni schools of Islamic jurisprudence were taught. Each consists of a court and iwan, in addition to the rooms of the students and annexed service units. The mosque has two minarets built in the Mamluk style.

– Visit Al-Rifa’i Mosque
Al-Rifa’i Mosque was built in the nineteenth century to Equivalent its fourteenth-century neighbor, the mosque of al-Sultan Ḥassan. The mosque gets its name from the tomb of Ali who was known as “Abu Sheibak”, he was the grandson of imam Ahmad al-Rifa’i. when the mosque was completed, it was imputed directly to Ahmad al-Rifa’i who founded the Rifa’i Sufi order.

Al-Rifa’i Mosque’s architectural design is as interesting as its construction history. Visitors stand in awe of the detailed decoration of the outer walls and massive columns of the outer gate. The minarets are distinguished by their beauty and elegance. Additionally, cement was used in the construction of the mosque for the first time in any of Islamic monument in Egypt, signaling the transition into modern times.

While a section of the mosque is dedicated to prayers, another is reserved for the members of the family of Muhammad Ali Pasha, which was in power from the early nineteenth century until the 1953, when the modern Egyptian republic was born. Khedive Ismail and his mother Hoshiyar Kadin, as well as Kings Fuad I and Farouk, the last two rulers of the Muhammad Ali Dynasty, are buried here, all enshrined in elaborate tombs. The mosque contains the burial chamber of Muhammad Reza Pahlavi (d. 1400 AH/1980 AD), the last Shah of Iran.

– Visit The Hanging Church
This church was known as the” Hanging Church“because it was built over the ruins of Old Cairo s Roman fort and situated near the Coptic Museum.

The church is made up of a court divided into four wings separated by three rows of marble columns. A wooden semi-circular vaults covers the main court. The church also contains an inscribed granite baptismal tank and a marble pulpit carried upon ten columns decorated with mosaic. The pulpit dates to the eleventh century AD.

The east side houses five alters surmounted by wooden domes. The church’s ceiling was made to look like Noah’s Ark. The Hanging Church is famous for the icons that decorate its walls. The oldest dates to the fifteenth century AD, while most of the rest date to the end of the eighteenth century AD.

– Visit the Church of Saint Sergius and Bacchus
The Church of Saint Sergius and Bacchus, also known as Abu Serga, is built upon an ancient Roman fort in Old Cairo. The history of the church is still being debated. Some scholars believe that it dates to the late fourth to early fifth centuries AD, while others believe that it should approximately be dated to 17th century AD.

This church has acquired a special religious status among Coptic churches because it is associated with the Holy Family’s journey through Egypt. It is named after renowned early fourth century AD saints, Sergius and Bacchus, both of whom were martyred at al-Resafa in Syria for their Christian beliefs.

– Visit the Ben ‘Ezra Synagogue
Ben ‘Ezra Synagogue is the oldest synagogue in Egypt. It was once the center of many celebrations, congregations and prayers, but is no longer in use today. The synagogue is named after Abraham ibn ‘Ezra, the Jewish religious scholar and philosopher.

Ben ‘Ezra contains all the main features of a synagogue. The bimah, or pulpit, from which prayers were read is in its center. The most sacred feature of a synagogue, the hekhal, which marks the direction of prayer, is decorated in Arabesque style and inlaid with mother of pearl, displaying a merge of artistic traditions. The Ten Commandments are inscribed on it in Hebrew.

The tour will finish around 17:00 and we will return you back to your hotel.