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Cairo is a hotbed of history. Entire neighbourhoods are open-air museums bursting with treasures, and that’s even before you’ve visited the city’s newest blockbuster, the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM). In a city teeming with so much heritage, mystery and history, it can be tricky to decide where to visit next – read on to discover seven must-visit museums in Cairo you simply can’t afford to miss.
Grand designs: Grand Egyptian Museum
It’s taken 20 years to build this dramatic museum, but the GEM finally – and officially – opens in July. Located in the new Pyramids precinct south of downtown Cairo in Giza, it is not only the world’s largest collection of ancient Egyptian artefacts, but actually the world’s largest archaeological museum. Many relics that were spread about the city have now been gathered in the one place, including the Solar Boat of Cheops, which used to live beside the Sphinx, the 75-tonne colossus of Ramses II and more than 5,000 artefacts discovered in 1922 in the burial site of King Tutankhamun (including his lavish coffin, previously displayed in the original Egyptian Museum). The museum is also full of ancient Greek and Roman artifacts from those empires’ occupations, and the gift shop is genuinely excellent; look for the weaves from the Siwa oasis and plenty of locally designed and created handcrafts and lotions. If you’re travelling with kids (6–12 years old), be sure to book the Children’s Gallery, which has optional kid-friendly guided tours.
Mum’s the word: National Museum of Egyptian Civilization
Come for the mummies, stay for the gilded chariots. The undoubtable drawcards of the NMEC are the 20 Golden Mummies, the bodies of past royals, most originally buried the Valley of the Kings. They’re now housed in a cool, dark, subterranean antechamber of the museum, which opened in 2001 in Fustat, the first site of the city. Here, you’ll find some of the stars of the pharaonic era, including Ramses II and the female pharaoh Queen Hatshepsut. Upstairs, the Main Gallery houses treasures from pre-historic through to Pharaonic, Christian and Islamic Egypt including the 35,000-year-old, Stone Age Nazlet Khater skeleton as well as Coptic and Roman artefacts such as bronze astrolabes and camel tents. Well-organised and documented, you can buy an audio guide for more in-depth documentary.
Maze of history: Coptic Cairo
An entire, compact district rather than a single building, get lost in one of Cairo’s oldest neighbourhoods, where Islam, Christianity and Judaism and collide. Follow the narrow alleyways to discover the Church of St. Sergius & Bacchus; it was built over the site where it is said Joseph, Mary and Jesus once sheltered as they were fleeing Bethlehem and Herod’s army. Nearby, Ben Ezra Synagogue is beautifully restored, a serene place to pause; it no longer serves as a place of worship, but nearby the Mosque of Amr Ibn Al-As, the oldest mosque in Egypt, still has daily prayers. Old Cairo’s drawcard is the Hanging Church, first built in the 3rd century over an old Roman fortress, and appears suspended above the street. Nearby, the Coptic Museum’s collection includes frescoes, icons and sculptures that show the influence of Pharaonic, Greek and Roman on early Coptic art, well worth a visit.
Palace of dreams: Al Manial Palace
Set on Rhoda Island in the middle of the Nile, the chaos and cacophony of central Cairo stops at the gates of this Ottoman-era palace. Built between 1899 and 1929, it was home to Prince Mohamed Ali, who served as crown price three times between kings; he dedicated his home to the revival of Islamic arts from around the world including Andalucian, Syrian and Moroccan designs. Wander from the Throne Room to the Golden Room, past corridors of the most beautiful mother-of-pearl and Turkish ceramic tiles. The palace, which includes a hunting museum, is surrounded by Persian and English gardens.
Profusion of palaces: El-Muizz, Islamic Cairo
The jewel of Islamic Cairo dazzles at sunset, as the call to prayer echoes from hundreds of minarets and its elaborate buildings are washed with coloured lights. The UNESCO-listed El-Muizz is a medieval district named for the founder of Cairo, al-Muizz li-Din Allah, and originally built as an elite district for the ruling class only – hence the profusion of palaces. Follow the pedestrian-only main thoroughfare to discover Al-Qahirah, the Victorious City, as its founders the Fatamids billed their showy new town, built in 969AD. With dramatic architecture, every arch is worth a photo – step through to find a little textile or jewellery museum, a striped-stone palace and even plunging water cisterns that drop down far below the street. It’s absolutely worth the single ticket that gains entry to the Madrassa and Mausoleum of Qalawun, built in 1279. Today, El-Muizz blurs into the busy Khan al-Khalili souq (market) for a big day out.
The OG: Egyptian Museum Cairo
Proudly pink, this must-visit archaeological museum dates from 1902 and still stands in Tahrir Square, near the Nile in the centre of Downtown Cairo. The city’s original museum, many of its key attractions including the Golden Mummies and King Tutankhamun now have new homes, but the museum only ever had a scrap of its holdings on display, and every year, a new cache is unearthed in the country’s deserts. The glorious staircases, interiors and sculptures in the surrounding gardens are worth a visit alone.
Ottoman odyssey: Gayer-Anderson Museum
If you’ve ever wondered what goes on behind the mashrabiya – those ornate wooden window screens in Islamic architecture – step into this museum, which comprises two 16th-century Ottoman houses. The museum is named after the last owner, an Anglo-Irish doctor sent to Egypt in 1907 to serve in the British Army during the its colonial rule. Fascinated by the culture, he stayed in Egypt, collecting and documenting antiquities, rugs and furniture, and bequeathed most of his collection and his house to the country. Located in the down-at-heel district of Sayyidah Zeinab, the walls of the house are actually built onto the 9th-century Mosque of Ibn Tulun, one of the world’s largest mosques (climb the minaret for great city views). Random trivia: scenes from 1977’s The Spy Who Loved Me were filmed here.
Discover Egypt
Feature image: Egyptian Museum Cairo.
