Cairo, the Jewel of the Orient

"This little world, the great Cairo... the most admirable and the greatest city seen upon the earth... the Microcosmus of the greater world..." Cairo, the Jewel of the Orient, the City of the Thousand Minarets, and the Melting Pot of Ancient and Modern Egyptian Civilizations.

View over Cairo

A walk through Cairo is a trip through the ages. You'll see buildings from almost every age of architecture: more than a thousand mosques, modern office buildings, wealthy suburbs, shantytowns, medieval Old Cairo, and pyramids on the edge of the city. Cairo remained the central city of Egypt throughout the period of British rule and afterwards. The 20th century saw massive growth in the size of the city as peasants left the farmlands in pursuit of work in the factories and commerce of the metropolis. The city was especially burdened by refugees from the various wars with Israel: much of the population of the Sinai peninsula and the cities along the Suez Canal left for Cairo between 1967 and 1978. Today, Cairo is Africa's most populous city and the Arab world's cultural centre. Since the 19th century Cairo has also become a center for tourism as people from around the world have come to see the monuments and artifacts of Ancient Egypt, especially the Pyramids. Laws against the export of these treasures has meant that the Egyptian Museum in Cairo is the only place in the world that many items can be seen.

Tahrir square

Talaat Harb square

El Aed pastries shop

Talaat Harb square at night

Cool building in Central Cairo

Cairo Tower (Gezirah)..Over 180 m (590 ft) high, it is the most outstanding attraction of modern Cairo. The first of the top two storeys is a rotating restaurant and cafeteria. Visitors can enjoy a panoramic view of Cairo from the observation platform.

AROUND CAIRO

Cairo thru Nile

View from Cairo tower

Looking across the Nile Again

Looking across the Nile from Zamalek

Nile - River

Nile - View

View - Nile Hilton

A walking around Zamalek and this is the view from across the Nile

Cairo transliterated: al-Qahirah, transl. 'victorious') is the capital city of Egypt (and previously the United Arab Republic) and has a metropolitan area population of approximately 15.2 million people, the largest in Africa. There are, however, millions of homeless and undocumented citizens. With these factored in, some population estimates reach as high as 25 million people. Cairo is the sixteenth most populous metropolitan area in the world (the 10th according to 2004 statistics).... Wikipedia.

Cairo Citidale Mosque

The Hanging Church, Cairo

Al Ahly Club (The African 20th century club) Img from top of the tower

AROUND CAIRO

Cairo at night

Downtown Cairo, the red building in the middle of the picture is the Cairo Museum.

Cairo Museum

Opera House - From Cairo Tower

The beautiful Cairo Opera House from Cairo Tower

The Cairo Library

Mena House Oberoi view of Pyramid

While al-Qahirah is the official name of the city, in local speech it is typically called simply by the name of the country, Misr (Arabic, pronounced Masr in the local dialect. The name Al-Qahirah literally means "The Subduer," though it's often translated as "The Victorious." The origin of the name is said to come from the appearance of the planet Mars during the founding of the city. The planet Mars, associated with destruction was called "Al Najm Al Qahir" in Arabic, from which the name of the city was derived. However the legacy of the name evolved into the title "Qahirat Al Adaa" meaning "subduer of the enemies". This title was given to the city as many armies were destroyed in attempts to invade Cairo or defeated elsewhere by troops sent from Cairo....Wikipedia.