One of the oldest states on the planet appeared as a result of the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt in 3000 BC. Should we be surprised at the possibilities of a rich excursion program that is offered to tourists who flew to the kingdom of the pharaohs on a beach vacation? What to see in Egypt, apart from the fantastic underwater world of the Red Sea and a rich buffet in all inclusive hotels? Travel to the Pyramids of Giza, the only surviving masterpiece on the list of the seven wonders of the world. Or admire the treasures preserved from the time of the pharaohs in the Cairo Museum.
TOP 15 sights of Egypt
Pyramids of Giza
The complex of ancient stone structures on the Giza plateau, 25 km from the center of Cairo, is well known even to those who have never been to Egypt. It was possible to look at the pyramids in the history textbook of the Ancient World, because of the so-called Seven Wonders of the World, it was they who survived to this day.
On the Giza plateau you will find:
- Pyramid of Cheops or the Great Pyramid. For three millennia, the Great Pyramid remained the tallest structure on earth. Its height today is about 140 meters.
- The pyramid of Khafre, 136 meters high, is the only one that has preserved the remains of the facing at the top.
- Pyramid of Mikerin, whose height reaches 66 meters. Particular attention is drawn to the monolith in the funeral temple of the pharaoh. The weight of the stone reaches 200 tons.
The ensemble is completed by a magnificent statue of the Great Sphinx.
Great sphinx
The oldest monumental sculpture on the planet, the Great Sphinx was carved out of rock on the Giza plateau near the complex of Egyptian pyramids. The circumstances and time of its creation still remain unknown, but there is an opinion that the author of the sphinx is still an antediluvian sculptor.
The statue is about 20 meters high and 72 meters long. The sculpture, according to Egyptologists, was dedicated to the Nile and the rising sun.
Djoser's pyramid
The oldest surviving stone building on Earth, the Pyramid of Djoser was built around 2650 BC. The height of the pyramid is only 62 meters, but it is famous for its shape - the Djoser pyramid is stepped. In addition, it was built the first of all the open Egyptian pyramids. Monolithic stone blocks are used as building materials. A covered gallery with a powerful colonnade leads inside.
Pharaoh himself was buried in the pyramid of Djoser, as well as his wives and children. According to a bad tradition, the pyramid was plundered in ancient times.
Abu Simbel
On the western bank of the Nile, in the area of the Egyptian-Sudanese border, there is a rock in which in the XIII century BC. during the reign of Ramses II, two temples were carved. A rock one hundred meters high is called a sacred mountain. It is dotted with hieroglyphs, and the temples are dedicated to the god Amon-Ra and the goddess Hathor. At the entrance to the sanctuary, huge figures of the gods and Ramses himself are carved. Their height is 20 meters.
Before the construction of the Aswan Dam, the monuments were located 200 meters closer to the river. The erection of the dam would lead to their inevitable flooding, and therefore the temples were moved to a safe place. The transfer has been called the largest engineering and archaeological operation in history.
Temple at Karnak
The main sanctuary of the New Kingdom and the largest temple complex in Egypt, the ensemble at Karnak includes structures dedicated to the god Amon-Ra, the goddess Mut and their son Khonsu.
The oldest structure of the temple in Karnak was built during the XII dynasty, and the temple reached its heyday under Thutmose I. Then the pharaohs and their children for many centuries tried to outdo each other, introducing new features and elements into the appearance of the Karnak temple. A large temple of Amon-Ra, several smaller sanctuaries, the oldest of the buildings, the White Chapel, and a two-kilometer alley of sphinxes, have survived to this day.
Cairo Museum
The world's largest repository of objects of ancient Egyptian art, the Egyptian National Museum has collected within its walls more than 160 thousand exhibits belonging to all historical periods of Egypt's existence. In the halls of the museum you can look at mummies and obelisks, objects from the tombs of the pharaohs and sarcophagi. The most famous exhibits are the death mask of Tutankhamun and the Cairo folding altar.
The museum was founded in 1858.
Ticket price: 3 euros. The cost of visiting the hall of mummies is 5 euros.
Citadel
The fortress in the capital of Egypt, called the Citadel, was built in the 12th century by Sultan Salah ad-Din. The plans were to create a city inside the fortress walls, and his nephew then moved the official residence of the Sultan to the citadel.
The fortress is located on the top of a hill and strategically the place for its construction was chosen ideally. The Citadel is worth visiting because of the panoramic views of Cairo. From the height of the fortress walls, the capital of Egypt is visible at a glance.
Ticket price: 2, 5 euros.
Muhammad Ali Mosque
This building occupies a special place in the list of the largest mosques in Cairo. It was erected by Pasha Muhammad Ali, who was the governor of Egypt for more than a quarter of a century. In the architecture of the Alabaster Mosque, notes of Istanbul architecture and recognizable features of Egyptian temples can be traced.
The interiors of the mosque are decorated with stone carvings and marble columns. In the courtyard there is a fountain with a dome and a clock tower, which were presented to Muhammad Ali by the French king Louis-Philippe.
Temple in Luxor
In the suburbs of modern Luxor, the temple of Amon-Ra, built on the right bank of the Nile in the 16th-11th centuries BC, deserves attention of tourists. The main features of the monumental structure are the solemnity of the design and the huge number of columns. Once the temple in Luxor was connected with the temple in Karnak by the avenue of sphinxes.
The oldest part of the temple was founded under Amenhotep III. Then in the south appeared a courtyard with a colonnade and statues of kings.
The northern entrance to the Temple of Luxor is decorated with four stone colossi and an obelisk. The second obelisk, which once stood here, now stands on the Place de la Concorde in Paris.
Valley of the Kings
The rocky gorge, where tombs for the pharaohs were built during the New Kingdom, is called the Valley of the Kings. It was here that the tomb of Tutankhamun was found, whose mummy is now on display in the Cairo National Museum. In the Valley of the Kings, 63 burials have been discovered. The very first buried here Thutmose I, and the last - Ramses H.
The place for the necropolis was not chosen by chance. The sun sets on the western bank of the Nile, and the valley stretches at the foot of a rock that resembles a natural pyramid. The tombs themselves are arranged in the same way: a long corridor leading to a depth of 100 meters, and several rooms at the end, whose walls and ceilings are decorated with paintings.
Ticket price: 5 euros for visiting any three tombs and the same for the tomb of Tutankhamun.
Sinai
Mount Sinai, sacred for believers, is located on the peninsula of the same name in the Asian part of Egypt. According to legend, it was here that God provided Moses with the Ten Commandments. A small mosque and a Christian temple are built on the top of the mountain, and a little to the north of them, under a rock, you will find a small cave where Moses hid for 40 days and nights and wrote down the commandments given to him with his own hand.
The earthly likeness of man's ascent to the Kingdom of Heaven is the ascent to Mount Sinai. Short and long paths lead to the top from the Orthodox monastery. The short route is more difficult and steep. Most tourists use the long trail. The night rise and the meeting of the sunrise at the top of the mountain were invented by travel agencies. True pilgrims prefer a short trail and daytime.
Philae
On a small island in the middle of the Nile, according to ancient Egyptian beliefs, the god Osiris was buried. In ancient times, access to Philae was forbidden to ordinary people and only priests were allowed here.
In the IV century BC. On the island, a temple was erected in honor of the goddess Hathor, but it was methodically destroyed during the time of Justinian, and the grandiose temple obelisk was later taken to Europe.
The ruins of the temple were carefully restored in the second half of the 20th century. They were transported to the neighboring island of Agilkiya to avoid flooding the monument during the construction of the Aswan Dam.
Temple of Edfu
The religious building was built in Edfu in the 4th-1st centuries BC. on the site of an older one. The temple is dedicated to the god Horus. An invaluable relic that has survived to this day is the statue of the god Horus in the form of a falcon in front of the entrance to the main courtyard.
The structure is over 135 meters long and nearly 80 meters wide. The quadrangular courtyard is decorated with 32 columns. You will also find many columns in the interior of the temple in Edfu: in the laboratory with incense recipes embossed on the walls; in the library room with a catalog of manuscripts inscribed on its wall; in the prayer hall with astronomical images on the ceiling.
The inscriptions of the Chora temple are of great value for philologists, since a record number of them have been collected here.
Unfinished obelisk
The largest known ancient obelisk, it lies in a stone quarry near Aswan. The unfinished obelisk is at least one third larger than all known Egyptian steles. Its height, presumably, could reach 42 meters, and its weight - 1200 tons.
In addition to the stele itself, an unfinished foundation for it and rock carvings were found in the quarry. All antiquities are combined into the open-air museum exposition.
Ras Mohammed
National Park in Egypt in the south of the Sinai Peninsula. Here you can look at the underwater world of the Red Sea, go diving at one of the world's best sites and meet the reserve's land inhabitants - foxes, gazelles and white storks. The mangroves of Ras Mohammed create ideal conditions for breeding chicks, and therefore there are dozens of rare species of birds in the national park.
