A tour in Cairo would probably include dinner on a boat floating smoothly down the Nile, the deep dark waters lite up, reflecting back the lights of Cairo by night. Sounds enchanting and mesmerizing, well it defiantly is. But on a trip like this that won't be the only sight to spellbind you. The program would also include, among other things, a belly dancer and a tanoura dancer (an Egyptian folk dance derived from the Sufi religion) as entertainment.
And after a visit to the Pyramids, the Citadel and the enormous Egyptian Museum of Antiquity, you'll probably go home impressed. But that’s just the tip of the ice berg. A people whose ancestors left behind a culture that has always captivated the world, and who over time have been exposed to a myriad of invasions by foreign cultures, must have more to show, and they do!
There are quiet a number of places with significant cultural importance, and an endless list of annual festivals and exhibitions, but we'll only mention the most popular ones.
The Museum of Egyptian Antiquity displays 136,000 items with a couple of hundred thousand others in its basement store room, making it home to the most expensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities in the world. With the new Grand Egyptian Museum being built near the Pyramids area, many more of these stored items will finally be displayed and get the attention and glory they deserve.
The old Khedive Opera House or Royal Opera House was built in November 1, 1869 and burned down on October 28, 1971. Seventeen years later on October 10, 1988 the National Cultural Center (Cairo Opera House) was built with the help of the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA), making Egypt the soul country in the region with two opera houses built within one century. The Cairo Opera House has recently hosted concerts by the Smithsonian Jazz Orchestra, Michael Flatley's Lord of the Dance and Bolshoi Theatre of the Republic of Belarus.
A not too known place of historical interest is The Cairo Geniza. The Geniza holds almost 200,000 Jewish manuscripts. These have been found at the Ben Ezra Synagogue (built in 882) in Fostat (now Old Cairo), the Basatin Cemetery east of Fostat and some were bought in Cairo in the late 19th century. These documents date back from 870 to 1880 AD.
Not to be missed are the beautiful gardens of Al Azhar Park. The sunset over the panoramic view of the old city of Cairo is an unforgettable site from one of its green hills. The park has running streams, waterfalls, restaurants, Islamic archways and lush landscaped gardens. Al Azhar Park is located near Darb Al-Ahmar district. It was a gift to Cairo from His Highness the Aga Khan, as his ancestors were the Fatimids who founded the city of Cairo in 969. During the development of the park parts of a 12th century Ayyubid wall was discovered, which has led to a major project for the restorations of several mosques, palaces and historic houses.
Erected on the same site as the ancient library, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina was inaugurated in October 2002. The main reading room is striking with its glass-paneled roof that resembles a sundial. The library has shelving space for eight million books, with the main reading room covering 70,000 m² on eleven cascading levels. The complex also houses a conference center; specialized libraries for the blind, for young people, and for children; three museums; four art galleries; a planetarium; and a manuscript restoration laboratory.
With the building of the Aswan Dam, the UNESCO attempted to salvage and recover many temples and reallocate them to higher grounds. A large quantity of artifacts was saves and was finally displayed at the beautiful Nubian Museum. The architecture of the Museum and the building walls were intended to evoke traditional Nubian village architecture, as it was along the Nubian Nile before the region was flooded by Lake Nasser.
As-Sawi Water Wheel (in arabic Saqiyet As-Sawi), is a popular cultural center. Located in Zamalek, the center hosts theatrical, musical and cinema performances, plastic art galleries, seminars and training courses. It has become a doorway to unknown artists finding a place on Cairo's culture scene. Holding awareness campaigns (2008 being "The Year of the Minds") it's intent is to protect the freedom of thought and the freedom to enjoy culture.
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