Your Allover Egypt tour guide will pick you up from your hotel in Cairo, Old Cairo is charming yet chaotic. The narrow golden-stone streets of the World Heritage Site have been captivating visitors for centuries. One of the oldest Islamic cities in the world, it is home to magnificent mosques, madrassas, hammams, and fountains.
Start your full-day tour with the Mosque of Muhammed Ali: also known as the Alabaster Mosque for the material which covers it, this enormous 19th-century place of worship was inspired by Istanbul’s New Mosque.
The move to visit The Citadel: originally constructed in the 12th century to protect the city from attacking Crusaders, the hilltop Saladin Citadel offers some of the most spectacular views over the surrounding city.
The second of your tour will be Coptic Cairo, you will visit first The Hanging Church. It got the name ‘Hanging Church’ (or ‘Suspended Church’ in Arabic, ‘El Moallaqa’) because of its location above the fortress gatehouse. When it was first built, the pillars of the gatehouse would have been easily seen, creating the ‘hanging’ effect of the church, but now are buried due to the rise of the ground over the past 1300 years.
Later on, visit Saints Sergius and Bacchus Church (Abu Serga). The Abu Serga church is believed to be not only the oldest church in Egypt, but built on the spot where the Holy Family (Joseph, Mary, and infant Jesus Christ) stopped and rested towards the end of their journey to Egypt. The spot is now the crypt of the church, 10 meters deep.
After that you will visit Ben Ezra Synagogue, the synagogue went through a series of renovations over the centuries, with the current structure dating back to 1892. It’s built in the style of a basilica, with two floors: the first floor dedicated to men, and the 2nd dedicated to women.
Due to the huge decline in the Jewish community in Cairo, the synagogue now functions as a museum and a tourist attraction as opposed to an operating place of worship. Then drive back to your hotel.
