Cairo is in my coronary heart. It was my first journey, aged 7 to see my pricey good friend who moved there along with her mum.
Then I went to my good friend’s different occasions, as a youngster and as an grownup. I noticed the pyramids for the primary time on horses that we took from town of Cairo. There I danced my first blues, ate my first and tastiest mango, heard for the primary time the Imam’s voice piercing via the home windows, and noticed my first dawn overlooking the desert.
I really like Egypt but it surely took me 20 years to go even though it’s only 1.5 hours from Athens. We went for 3 days and it stole our hearts once more.
104 million individuals dwell in Egypt and 21 million in Cairo. Large nation and densely populated metropolis and it exhibits her from the primary second.
Egypt is, for us Greeks, the closest vacation spot when it comes to distance however distant when it comes to expertise. You journey solely an hour and a half, you alter continents and also you notice that you’ve got been transported distant from what you might be conversant in in Europe.
It is a perfect selection for a vacation if you wish to mix a cultural journey, in a rustic with 5000 years of historical past and a number of the most essential monuments on this planet, with fantastic seashores, colourful seabeds, explorations within the desert with fantastic and hospitable Egyptian guides.
Attributable to time we solely stayed in Cairobut undoubtedly mix your journey with a go to to the Higher Kingdom (Aswan and Luxor).
Belle Époque structure
Strolling within the metropolis you uncover the fantastic Artwork deco homes that shock you with their magnificence but additionally with their abandonment.
Lots of of architectural jewels pop up in each nook proudly however uncared for, witnesses of pre-war Egypt, between shacks half-finished buildings and staff’ condominium buildings with out plaster and with damaged glass.
The fantastic thing about the buildings of this period captivates you but additionally fills you with disappointment for the higher occasions which have lived however might dwell once more.
The Egyptian Museum
The historical past of Egypt enchants you and takes you on a journey. In between excursions of the pyramids and museums I learn in regards to the pharaohs once more and attempt to perceive how it’s attainable that that they had such superior considering and information in 2500 BC.
The Egyptian museum is among the most fascinating museums you’ll ever go to – we’re in fact ready for GEM, the brand new Egyptian museum, to open.
Although the working museum is poorly lit, it captivates you. It has 120,000 displays , most of them in glorious situation. I ponder how they bought them in such good situation.
The colours on the statues, even the wood ones and the sarcophagi, are as in the event that they have been made in the present day.
I determine that my favourite pharaoh is Akhenaten, Tutankhamun’s father, who established monotheism for a short while but additionally introduced different improvements.
I see statues of pharaohs with elephantiasis, statues of palace individuals with disabilities, statues with dwarfism and I ponder if the Historical Egyptians have been a extra developed species and extra open to range.
Giza Space – The Pyramids
The pyramids, regardless of what number of occasions you see them, create the identical admiration and surprise. How might they do that miracle 5000 years in the past?
The realm of Giza the place the three predominant pyramids are positioned is comparatively degraded. This is among the oddities of Cairo.
The realm the place the pyramids stand, an important archaeological monuments of Egypt, needs to be low-cost and degraded.
Memphis and Sahara space
Memphis was the Capital of the Previous Kingdom of decrease Egypt from 3,100 BC to 1,300 BC. Within the Sahara area and about half an hour’s drive from Giza is the Pyramid of Djoser .
It’s the oldest that has been discovered. Within the space additionally, you will see the reclining statue of Rampsis II, 10 meters lengthy.
Coptic Cairo
The Holy Patriarchal Monastery of Agios Georgios the place the homonymous Saint confessed his religion and was tortured is positioned in outdated Cairo.
The crypt and the nicely of the Virgin Mary exist there to this present day, the place custom says that the Virgin Mary and Christ hid for a very long time. Right this moment it is among the most densely populated suburbs of Cairo, with monasteries, temples and cemeteries.
There, the Roman fortress of Babylon talked about by Strabo and different writers survives. The abbot of the daddy church, Damascene Alazraitells us “The Monastery is a pole of attraction, not just for the Orthodox, but additionally for the Copts, Catholics and Muslims.
Folks from all elements of Egypt and the remainder of the world flock to the Monastery in an effort to pray to the icon of the Saint.
This picture was saved from the disastrous fireplace of 1904, which burned down the temple.” Discover the dome of the temple painted by Parthenis . A bit of additional down on foot you will notice the hanging church.