Egypt Magnificent, Sightseeing and More...

 Egypt Magnificent & More…

I would say that almost everyone have heard about Egypt. What comes to your mind when you hear Egypt? It comes to your mind antiques, pyramids? Well, even tho Egypt is know or recognizable for it, is not everything. It has a lot to explore, discover and enjoy. Here, in this post we will learn more about Egypt and its magnificent.

Egypt, a country linking northeast Africa with the Middle East, dates to the time of the pharaohs. Millennia-old monuments sit along the fertile Nile River Valley, including Giza\’s colossal Pyramids and Great Sphinx. The capital, Cairo, is home to Ottoman landmarks like Muhammad Ali Mosque and the Egyptian Museum, a trove of antiquities. 

Do you known that Egypt rank in the the first place with most visited country in Africa by tourist?Egypt is known for the 4160 miles long Nile river, Egyptian cotton, chaotic bazaars, scuba diving, and beach resort towns such as Sharm-El-Sheikh. Of course, Egypt is famous forits ancient history museums, the Pyramids of Giza, temple complexes, mummies and the Great Sphinx. Egypt is famous for the Pyramids, Sahara Desert, and Nile River. It\’s known for its ruins, historical places, and sites of world wonders. It is also famous for its mesmerizing beaches, coral reefs, and sea cruises. On top of that, Egypt is also known for its people\’s humorous spirit.

Egypt Sightseeing:

1. The Egyptian Museum– The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, known commonly as the Egyptian Museum or Museum of Cairo, in Cairo, Egypt, is home to an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities. It has 120,000 items, with a representative amount on display and the remainder in storerooms. Built in 1901 by the Italian construction company, Garozzo-Zaffarani, to a design by the French architect Marcel Dourgnon, the edifice is one of the largest museums in the region. As of March 2019, the museum was open to the public. In 2021, the museum is due to be superseded by the new Grand Egyptian Museum at Giza.

2. Valley of the Kings– The Valley of the Kings, also known as the Valley of the Gates of the Kings, is a valley in Egypt where, for a period of nearly 500 years from the 16th to 11th century BC, rock-cut tombs were excavated for the pharaohs and powerful nobles of the New Kingdom. The valley stands on the west bank of the Nile, opposite Thebes, within the heart of the Theban Necropolis. The wadi consists of two valleys: the East Valley and the West Valley. With the 2005 discovery of a new chamber and the 2008 discovery of two further tomb entrances, the valley is known to contain 63 tombs and chambers. It was the principal burial place of the major royal figures of the Egyptian New Kingdom, as well as a number of privileged nobles. The royal tombs are decorated with scenes from Egyptian mythology and give clues as to the beliefs and funerary practices of the period. Almost all of the tombs seem to have been opened and robbed in antiquity, but they still give an idea of the opulence and power of the pharaohs. This area has been a focus of archaeological and Egyptological exploration since the end of the eighteenth century, and its tombs and burials continue to stimulate research and interest.

3. Giza Necropolis– The Giza Pyramid Complex, also called the Giza Necropolis, is the site on the Giza Plateau in Greater Cairo, Egypt that includes the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Pyramid of Khafre, and the Pyramid of Menkaure, along with their associated pyramid complexes and the Great Sphinx of Giza. All were built during the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom of Ancient Egypt. The site also includes several cemeteries and the remains of a workers village. The site is at the edges of the Western Desert, approximately 9 kilometres west of the Nile River in the city of Giza, and about 13 kilometres southwest of the city centre of Cairo. The Great Pyramid and the Pyramid of Khafre are the largest pyramids built in ancient Egypt, and they have historically been common as emblems of Ancient Egypt in the Western imagination. They were popularised in Hellenistic times, when the Great Pyramid was listed by Antipater of Sidon as one of the Seven Wonders of the World. It is by far the oldest of the Ancient Wonders and the only one still in existence.

4. Khan el-Khalili– Khan el-Khalili is a famous bazaar and souq in the historic center of Cairo, Egypt. Established as a center of trade in the Mamluk era and named for one of its several historic caravanserais, the bazaar district has since become one of Cairo\’s main attractions for tourists and Egyptians alike. It is also home to many Egyptian artisans and workshops involved in the production of traditional crafts and souvenirs.

5. Bibliotheca Alexandrina– The Bibliotheca Alexandrina is a major library and cultural center 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. The idea of reviving the old library dates back to 1974, when a committee set up by Alexandria University selected a plot of land for its new library. Construction work began in 1995 and, after some US$220 million had been spent, the complex was officially inaugurated on 16 October 2002. In 2010, the library received a donation of 500,000 books from the Bibliothèque nationale de France. The gift makes the Bibliotheca Alexandrina the sixth-largest Francophone library in the world. The library has shelf space for eight million books, with the main reading room covering 20,000 square metres.

6. Ras Mohammed– Ras Mohammed is a national park in Egypt at the southern extreme of the Sinai Peninsula, overlooking the Gulf of Suez on the west and the Gulf of Aqaba to the east.  Ras Mohammed is the only National park of Egypt is situated in Sharm el Sheikh and is famous for its marine life, mangrove trees, rare birds and animals.

7. Aswan High Dam– The Aswan Dam, or more specifically since the 1960s, the Aswan High Dam, is the world\’s largest embankment dam, which was built across the Nile in Aswan, Egypt, between 1960 and 1970. Its significance largely eclipsed the previous Aswan Low Dam initially completed in 1902 downstream. Based on the success of the Low Dam, then at its maximum utilization, construction of the High Dam became a key objective of the government following the Egyptian Revolution of 1952; with its ability to better control flooding, provide increased water storage for irrigation and generate hydroelectricity the dam was seen as pivotal to Egypt\’s planned industrialization. Like the earlier implementation, the High Dam has had a significant effect on the economy and culture of Egypt. Before the High Dam was built, even with the old dam in place, the annual flooding of the Nile during late summer had continued to pass largely unimpeded down the valley from its East African drainage basin. These floods brought high water with natural nutrients and minerals that annually enriched the fertile soil along its floodplain and delta; this predictability had made the Nile valley ideal for farming since ancient times.

8. Cairo Tower– The Cairo Tower is a free-standing concrete tower in Cairo, Egypt. At 187 m, it is the tallest structure in Egypt and North Africa. It was the tallest structure in Africa for ten years until 1971, when it was surpassed by Hillbrow Tower in South Africa. One of Cairo\’s well-known modern monuments, sometimes considered Egypt\’s second most famous landmark after the Pyramids of Giza, it stands in the Gezira district on Gezira Island in the River Nile, close to downtown Cairo.

9. Blue Hole– The Blue Hole is a diving location on the southeast Sinai, a few kilometres north of Dahab, Egypt on the coast of the Red Sea. The Blue Hole is a submarine sinkhole, with a maximum depth within the hole of just over 100 m. There is a shallow opening to the sea around 6 m deep, known as \”the saddle\”, and a 26 m long tunnel, known as \”the Arch\”, whose ceiling is at a depth of 55 m, and whose bottom falls away as it reaches the seaward side to about 120 m. On the seaward side the floor drops steeply to over 1,000 metres. The hole and the surrounding area have an abundance of coral and reef fish. The Blue Hole is popular for freediving because of the depth directly accessible from shore and the lack of current. The dive site is reputed to have the most diver fatalities in the world with estimates of between 130 and 200 fatalities in recent years. The reasons for why this site has such a high number of fatalities are not clearly understood.

10. Hurghada Aquarium–  Hurghada Aquarium is an aquarium located in Hurghada, Red Sea Governorate, Egypt in Magawish area. It opened in January 2015, and contains nearly 1 million gallons in tank space. It is home to over 1200 individual animals, and 100 species. It is easily one of the continent\’s largest aquariums, as well as Egypt\’s largest and nearly the largest in the Arab world. It contains 24 separate exhibits, included among them a shark tunnel, rainforest and \”Whale Valley\”, based on fossils found in the Western Desert. The facility is also home to a Bedouin life exhibit, and an animal zoo. The Aquarium’s notable specimens include: nurse shark, stingrays, green sea turtle, shovelnose guitarfish and eagle rays

Extra: Elphinstone Reef is a standalone reef in the Egyptian Red Sea situated about 30 kilometers north from the town of Marsa Alam in Egypt. The coral community in this reef is primarily composed of soft corals such as Dendronephthya species.

Stacey,

(Travel & Tourism Specialist)