International Destinations

Seeing the sights of historic, cultural Cairo

By Albert J. Fernando
Photo by Albert J. Fernando

As I looked out the window of my room on the 22nd floor of my hotel, I got a panoramic view of the city of Cairo, an urban landscape crowded with thousands of buildings, and the majestic Nile flowing along. Sailing feluccas bearing eager tourists dotted what is the world’s longest river, at 6,656 kilometres.

So here I was in the land of Egypt, site of more than 5,000 years of civilization, land of pyramids and pharaohs, mosques and museums. The place where Mark Anthony and Cleopatra loved and lost, Egypt has been conquered by Romans (30 B.C.), attacked by Crusaders (12th century A.D.), taken by the Ottomans (16 century A.D.), invaded by the French under Napoleon (1798) and ruled by the British (19th century). The nation regained its independence in 1922.

With so many nations having ruled Egypt after the collapse of pharaonic dynasties, the capital city of Cairo offers the visitor a rich harvest of historic and cultural sites, making it impossible to see the city in a hurry. A week is insufficient to get more than a glimpse of this city, which was established by the Muslim Arabs in 969 A.D. as Al-Qahira, meaning “The Victorious.”

Today, with a population of about 18 million, Cairo is the largest metropolis in Africa. Not surprisingly, the city has heavy traffic and is noisy.

Like most travellers, I first visited the Egyptian Museum. Opened to the public in 1902, this building contains the world’s largest collection of Egyptian artifacts from the ancient to the new kingdoms of Pharaohs, spanning over 3,000 years.

After spending some time on the main floor, I hurried to the upper floor to get a look at the famous Tutenkhamen collection. King Tut, as he is popularly known, ruled from 1333 B.C to 1323 B.C. What is so special about this pharaoh was that his mummy and the three layers of coffins that contained it, along with a large number of artifacts, were discovered intact by Howard Carter and Lord Carnavon in 1922 in the Valley of the Kings.

Entering the glass-partitioned section that houses the Tutenkhamen coffins and the jewellery, one gets an eerie feeling, and visitors are often astonished at what they see.

Here, for example, is the death mask of this famous pharaoh made of solid gold weighing 11 kilograms. As well, the innermost coffin that contained the mummy weighs 110 kilograms of solid gold! You could hear the visitors exclaiming in soft voices, “Oh, my goodness!” or “What, solid gold! Oh my…my!” The adrenalin rushes through all the visitors seeing these priceless artifacts. Outside the glass-partitioned area, one can see the gold-plated throne and a chariot that is similar to the one shown in the movie Ben Hur, but gold-plated.

The Pyramids
The Pyramids are in Giza about 18 kilometres away. The road to these monuments was crowded with taxis and coaches carrying excited tourists. Along the way, one could see stores selling papyrus, souvenirs and carpets. Our group had the opportunity to visit a carpet school where small kids and teenage girls weave these precious items with great patience. The carpets were not cheap, though. A 10-foot by eight-foot silk carpet was priced at US $10,000!

The biggest of the three pyramids at Giza, called the Great Pyramid, is believed to have been built as a tomb for the Pharaoh Khufu or Cheops. It was constructed over a period of 20 years some 4,500 years ago, using about 100,000 labourers.

The Great Pyramid consists of some two million blocks, each weighing one to two tons and its height is 138 metres. Visitors are allowed to go inside, through narrow pathways and up steep step-ladder-like devices. Most visitors, however, give up after going some 10 or 15 metres as the climbing is very strenuous.

The second Pyramid, called Khufre or Chepren, is a little smaller and the third is still smaller.

Around the Pyramids, in addition to souvenir sellers, who can be a nuisance, there are the camel owners who offer rides to visitors. They charge even if you just want to have a photo taken standing beside these creatures. To attract the visitors, these camels have been given names. A popular one was named Michael Jackson.

The Sphinx
Near the Pyramids, the Sphinx stands like a sentinel, with the head of a king and body of a lion. Its identity has been the subject of much speculation as to its identity. The head is 30 feet long and 14 feet wide. The paws, however, are each 50 feet long. The nose of the Sphinx is missing, a casualty of Turkish artillery practice. Sound and Light Show at the Pyramids No visitor should miss the Sound and Light Show, which takes place every evening. The history of the Pyramids and ancient Egypt is narrated in this spectacular two-hour show that features lasers and other audiovisual techniques.

The Citadel
This is a complex of buildings in Cairo that houses the military and police museums, and includes the famous mosque of Mohamed Ali Pasha, considered the founder of modern Egypt. In the courtyard is a large clock presented to Ali by King Louis Philippe of France as a belated gift in return for the obelisk taken by the French that is now in the Place de Concorde in Paris. “The clock never worked and was kept more as decoration,” quipped a guide.

Nice gift exchange, I thought.

Coptic Christian churches
Cairo has several historic Coptic Christian churches as Christianity has been practised in Egypt since before Islam was introduced in the 7th century A.D. The Church of St. Sergius contains a crypt in which it is believed that Jesus, Mary and Joseph stayed for some time after their flight to Egypt. This shrine is popularly known as Abu Serge. Another noteworthy shrine is the Hanging Church (so called because it was built at the top of the southern gate of an old Babylonian fortress), which is the leading Coptic church of Cairo.