Old Cairo's Islamic, Coptic, and Market Heritage
Directly after breakfast, meet your Egyptian guide in the hotel lobby.
Drive to the old part of Cairo and walk through its Islamic and Coptic sites, as well as Ben Ezra Synagogue.
Enjoy your guide's explanation of the Islamic mosque Amr Ibn El-Ass, which was the first mosque ever built in Egypt and in Africa.
Then move to the oldest part of Old Cairo, the Coptic quarter, where you will enjoy your tour guide's explanation of various churches, including the Hanging Church, which was built on four columns above the ground, as well as Saint Serguies Church in Egypt, called Abu Serga Church, where the Holy Family stayed in Egypt. Egypt had already hosted many prophets, including Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, the tribes of the Israelite, and Moses the prophet.
Visit Ben Ezra Synagogue. According to local tradition, it is located on the site where baby Moses was found. This was the synagogue whose Geniza, or storeroom, was found in the 19th century to contain a treasure of abandoned Hebrew secular and sacred manuscripts. The collection, known as the Cairo Geniza, was brought to Cambridge, England, and is now divided between several academic libraries.
Now drive to a local restaurant, where you will enjoy Egyptian food, and then continue your Cairo day tour with a stop by the old wall of Cairo and its old gates.
Then walk around the largest Islamic open museum in the world, called El-Moezz Street, where you can see a huge number of old mosques and schools.
Extend your walk to the old market of Khan El-Khalili, where you will find old-style coffee shops and small bazaars selling everything related to Egyptian culture.
