Places to Visit Being in Egypt
Sort by:
Showing 18 items
Decade:
Rating:
List Type:
The Egyptian (1954)
Built between 876 and 879 AD, the Mosque of Ibn Tulun is one of the oldest mosques in Cairo. It was commissioned by Ahmad ibn Ţūlūn, the Abbassid governor of Egypt. The mosque is constructed around a courtyard, with one covered hall on each of the four sides. The minaret, which features a helical outer staircase similar to that of the famous minaret in Samarra, was probably built several centuries later. Parts of the James Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me were filmed at the Mosque of Ibn Tulun.
The Prince of Egypt (1998)
Home to at least 120,000 items of ancient Egyptian antiquities, the Egyptian Museum is one of Cairo’s top attraction. There are two main floors of the museum, the ground floor and the first floor. On the ground floor there is an extensive collection of papyrus and coins used in by the ancient Egyptians. On the first floor there are artifacts from the final two dynasties of Ancient Egypt and also many artifacts taken from the Valley of the Kings. Highlights include the objects from the Tomb of Tutankhamen and the Royal Mummy Room containing 27 royal mummies from pharaonic times.
Cleopatra (1963)
Dahab is located some 85 km (53 miles) north of Sharm el-Sheikh on the Gulf of Aqaba, near the southern tip of Sinai. Once an isolated coastal village, Dahab turned into a hippie hangout in the 1980′s and became something of an “alternative resort”, mixing cheap accommodation with a laid back lifestyle. Activities such as wind surfing, snorkeling, scuba diving and camel and jeep trips make it one of the most popular destinations along the Red Sea.
Located in the Libyan Desert, Siwa Oasis is one of Egypt’s isolated settlements, with 23,000 people, mostly ethnic Berbers. Located on an old date trade route, Siwa was an oasis vital to the trade route, as the natural springs and shade giving palm trees gave travelers respite from the desert. With the collapse of the Roman Empire, Siwa began its decline. In recent decades tourism has become a vital source of income. Much attention has been given to creating hotels that use local materials and play on local styles.
Death on the Nile (1978)
Cruising the Nile is a popular way of visiting upper Egypt. The Nile River has been Egypt’s lifeline since ancient times and there is no better way to trace the passage of Egypt’s history than to follow the course of the Nile. Almost all Egyptian cruise ships travel the Luxor-Aswan route which is safe, scenic and terminates at two of Egypt’s most important towns. Taking a Felucca down the Nile is an adventurous option. Feluccas are sail boats that have been used on the Nile since antiquity. A Felucca is not quite as comfortable as a luxury cruise ship but nothing can beat sailing in a quiet rig that was designed thousands of years ago.
Alexandria... Why? (1980)
The Bibliotheca Alexandrina is a major library and cultural center located on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea in the Egyptian city of Alexandria. It is both a commemoration of the Library of Alexandria that was lost in antiquity, and an attempt to rekindle something of the brilliance that this earlier center of study and erudition represented.
Al karnak (1975)
Although badly ruined, few sites in Egypt are more impressive than Karnak. It is the largest ancient religious site ever built, and represents the combined achievement of many generations of Egyptian builders. The Temple of Karnak actually consists of three main temples, smaller enclosed temples, and several outer temples located about 2.5 kilometers north of Luxor. One of most famous structures of Karnak is the Hypostyle Hall, a hall area of 5,000 m2 (50,000 sq ft) with 134 massive columns arranged in 16 rows.
SFG¿mystic's rating:
Caesar and Cleopatra (1946)
Saint Catherine's Monastery commonly known as Santa Katarina lies on the Sinai Peninsula, at the mouth of a gorge at the foot of Mount Sinai in the city of Saint Catherine in Egypt's South Sinai Governorate. The monastery is Orthodox and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Built between 548 and 565,[1] UNESCO report 60100 ha / Ref: 954 states this monastery is one of the oldest working Christian monasteries in the world together with the Monastery of Saint Anthony, situated across the Red Sea in the desert south of Cairo, which also lays claim to that title. In the area around the monastery, a small town has grown, with hotels and swimming pools, called Saint Katherine City.
The Mummy (1999)
The Red Sea, off the coast of Egypt, is one of the most beautiful places in the world to go diving. The waters of the Red Sea are renowned for their spectacular visibility and features some of the most exotic seascapes. With its wide expanse of coral formation on the reefs, it is home to thousands of different sea creatures. Red Sea beach resorts are located on both sides of the sea, on the east side and part of the Sinai peninsula is the long established Sharm el Sheikh and its neo-hippy counterpart, Dahab. On the west coast of the Red Sea lies relatively old and touristy Hurghada and a cluster of new resort towns.
SFG¿mystic's rating:
The Mummy Returns (2001)
The Valley of the Kings near Luxor is a valley where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th century BC, tombs were constructed for the kings and privileged nobles of the New Kingdom. The valley contains 63 tombs and chambers, ranging in size from a simple pit to a complex tomb with over 120 chambers. The royal tombs are decorated with scenes from Egyptian mythology and give clues to the beliefs and funerary rituals of the period. All of the tombs seem have been opened and robbed in antiquity except for the famous tomb of Tutankhamun.
The Abu Simbel temples are two massive rock temples in Abu Simbel in Nubia, southern Egypt. They are situated on the western bank of Lake Nasser, about 230 km southwest of Aswan (about 300 km by road). The complex is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the "Nubian Monuments,"[1] which run from Abu Simbel downriver to Philae (near Aswan).
The twin temples were originally carved out of the mountainside during the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses II in the 13th century BCE, as a lasting monument to himself and his queen Nefertari, to commemorate his alleged victory at the Battle of Kadesh. However, the complex was relocated in its entirety in 1968, on an artificial hill made from a domed structure, high above the Aswan High Dam reservoir.
The relocation of the temples was necessary to avoid their being submerged during the creation of Lake Nasser, the massive artificial water reservoir formed after the building of the Aswan High Dam on the Nile River. Abu Simbel remains one of Egypt's top tourist attractions.
The Pyramids of Giza, situated in the immediate vicinity of the southwestern suburbs of Cairo are the undisputable top attractions in Egypt. The pyramids at Giza were built over the span of three generations – by Khufu, his second reigning son Khafre, and Menkaure. The Great Pyramid of Khufu is an awe-inspiring 139 meters (455 feet) high making it the largest pyramid in Egypt, although nearby Khafre’s Pyramid appears to be larger as it is build at a higher elevation.
SFG¿mystic's rating:
Agora (2009)
Philae is an island in Lake Nasser, Egypt. It was formerly an island in the First Cataract of the Nile River and the previous site of an Ancient Egyptian temple complex in southern Egypt. The complex was dismantled and relocated to nearby Agilkia Island during a UNESCO project started because of the construction of the Aswan Dam, after the site was partly flooded by the earlier Aswan Low Dam for half a century.
The Queen of Sheba (1921)
The great Mosque of Muhammad Ali Pasha or Alabaster Mosque is a mosque situated in the Citadel of Cairo in Egypt and commissioned by Muhammad Ali Pasha between 1830 and 1848.
Situated on the summit of the citadel, this Ottoman mosque, the largest to be built in the first half of the 19th century, is, with its animated silhouette and twin minarets, the most visible mosque in Cairo. The mosque was built in memory of Tusun Pasha, Muhammad Ali's oldest son, who died in 1816.
This great mosque, along with the citadel, is one of the landmarks and tourist attractions of Cairo and is one of the first features to be seen when approaching the city from no matter which side.
Stargate (1994)
The Citadel of Qaitbay (or the Fort of Qaitbay) is a 15th-century defensive fortress located on the Mediterranean sea coast, which built upon/from the ruins of the Lighthouse of Alexandria, in Alexandria, Egypt. It was established in 1477 AD by Sultan Al-Ashraf Sayf al-Din Qa'it Bay. The Citadel is situated on the eastern side of the northern tip of Pharos Island at the mouth of the Eastern Harbour.
SFG¿mystic's rating:
Land of the Pharaohs (1955)
Located in the heart of Alexandria, Kom el-Dikka is an extensive Roman theatrical and residential complex. It includes the only known Roman amphitheater in Egypt, an impressively well-preserved structure composed of thirteen terraces. This was constructed in the traditional Greek style , with a flat stage in the center on the lowest level, and raised rows that ascend in steps surrounding three-quarters of the stage. The bench-style seats are all carved out of white or gray marble except for the first row, which is of red granite. Visitors can see, if they look very closely, the remnants of Roman numerals chiseled into each row. The oldest part of the theater consisted of approximately sixteen or seventeen rows of seats, allowing for an audience of 700 to 800 people. It was eventually expanded to include exclusive “boxes” on the highest level for the upper echelons of society.
Al-Azhar Mosque is a mosque in Islamic Cairo in Egypt. Al-Mu‘izz li-Dīn Allāh of the Fatimid Caliphate commissioned its construction for the newly established capital city in 970. Its name is usually thought to allude to the Islamic prophet Muhammad's daughter Fatimah, a revered figure in Islam who was given the title az-Zahrā′ ("the shining one"). It was the first mosque established in Cairo, a city that has since gained the nickname "the city of a thousand minarets."
After its dedication in 972, and with the hiring by mosque authorities of 35 scholars in 989, the mosque slowly developed into what is today the second oldest continuously run university in the world after Al Karaouine. Al-Azhar University has long been regarded as the foremost institution in the Islamic world for the study of Sunni theology and sharia, or Islamic law. The university, integrated within the mosque as part of a mosque school since its inception, was nationalized and officially designated an independent university in 1961, following the Egyptian Revolution of 1952.
Over the course of its over a millennium-long history, the mosque has been alternately neglected and highly regarded. Because it was founded as an Ismāʿīli institution, Saladin and the Sunni Ayyubid dynasty that he founded shunned al-Azhar, removing its status as a congregational mosque and denying stipends to students and teachers at its school. These moves were reversed under the Mamluk Sultanate, under whose rule numerous expansions and renovations took place. Later rulers of Egypt showed differing degrees of deference to the mosque and provided widely varying levels of financial assistance, both to the school and to the upkeep of the mosque. Today, al-Azhar remains a deeply influential institution in Egyptian society and a symbol of Islamic Egypt.
Cairo Time (2009)
The Cairo Tower is a free-standing concrete tower located in Cairo, Egypt. At 187 m (614 ft), it has been the tallest structure in Egypt and North Africa about 50 years. It was the tallest structure in Africa for 10 years, until 1971 when it was surpassed by Hillbrow Tower in South Africa.
One of Cairo's well-known modern monuments, it stands in the Zamalek district on Gezira Island in the River Nile, close to Downtown.
Egypt is famous for its ancient civilization and some of the world’s most famous monuments, including the Giza pyramids, the Great Sphinx and the ancient temples of Luxor dating back thousands of years. Although focus of most tourist visits remains the great monuments along the Nile, possibilities for Egyptian travel also includes snorkeling and diving along the Red Sea coast. Other tourist attractions in Egypt include camel trips into the mountains of Sinai, tours to remote oases or visits to the Coptic monasteries of the Eastern Desert.
Inspired by villiana's list 50 places you must see being in Poland