I have never been to Cairo, Egypt but as a lover of anything to do with history I would love to go. Cairo, of course, has more than its fair share of history and the good thing about Cairo is that much of its history is still there to see.
Egypt has been described as the world’s largest open-air museum and the centrepiece is Cairo.Many great civilisations have left their mark on the city, making sightseeing in Cairo a rich and varied experience, enough to keep everyone in the family enthralled for days on end.
But do not visit the city under any illusions. Cairo isn’t a gentle place. Home to more than 16 million Egyptians, Arabs, Africans and sundry others, it provides an all-out assault on the senses.Chaotic, noisy, polluted, totally unpredictable and seething with people, the sheer intensity of the city may seduce, or it may not.The heart of Islamic Cairo is the Citadel, built on one of the few hills in Cairo and fortified around 1176, as a defence against the Crusaders.It is a wonderful medieval fortress, filled with mosques, tombs and museums.
Built on a spur of the Muqattam Hills, the Citadel offers a superb vantage point over the city.Other fascinating sites include the ‘City of the Dead’ – an immense cemetery that since the 6th century has housed the living as well as the dead: nearly a million Cairenes live amidst the tombs and grave markers of their ancestors.
Although Cairo is an ancient city, there are also many attractions built in the modern era which are of interest to visitors. The city’s modern architecture is often unusual, and always influenced by its position at the crossroads between east and west, and its peoples’ faiths.
Visitors to Cairo could very well spend all their time there in museums and never get bored. No matter how much time you spend exploring the city’s collections of artifacts both ancient and modern, you will never have enough time to see them all.Egypt has much to offer the visitor and in fact the country is more than just historical sites.
Egypt has its own modern beach holiday resorts on the Red Sea, such as Sharm el Sheikh, and Sharm offers a more relaxing alternative to the frantic city of Cairo.
Call Global Holidays on 0800 433 2300 to enquire about our holidays to Egypt.
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