Guide on site tour to Islamic Cairo

What's included

What you'll see and do

1. Starts with Pickup from your hotel by our tour guide and transfer to the Citadel of Salah El Din Where you visit Mohamed Ali Mosque that has been considered one of the most beautiful mosque in Cairo it also know as the Alabaster Mosque because its outer walls has been Covered by Alabaster Stone. The Citadel of Sultan Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi (Saladin) is one of the most iconic monuments in Islamic Cairo, and among the most impressive defensive fortresses dating to the Middle Ages. Its strategic location on the Muqattam Hills gave it a formidable defensive position, and offered, as it still does today, an unrestricted panoramic view of Cairo. Sultan Salah al-Din al-Ayyubi was the first to order the construction of a fortress over the Muqattam Hills in (572 AH/ 1176 AD), but it was not completed during his lifetime. This was achieved during the reign of Sultan al-Kamel ibn al-Adel (604 AH/1207 AD) who decided to reside in it, making it the official residence of the rulers of Egypt.

   60 minutes here · Admission not included

2. Located on Salah al-Din Square (or Maydan al-Qal’a “Citadel Square”), al-Rifa’i Mosque was built in the nineteenth century to Equivalent its fourteenth-century neighbor, the mosque of al-Sultan Ḥassan. The mosque gets its name from the tomb of Ali who was known as "Abu Sheibak", he was the grandson of imam Ahmad al-Rifa’i. when the mosque was completed, it was imputed directly to Ahmad al-Rifa’i who founded the Rifa’i Sufi order. Although he was never buried here, the mosque witness a joyous annual Sufi celebrations commemorating his birth. Hoshiyar Hanim, the mother of Khedive Ismail, commissioned the current design of the mosque and put in charge of the construction the architect Hussein Pasha Fahmi. Part of the plan was to have a mausoleum for the family of Muhammad Ali as part of the extension, which was made by imported building materials from Europe, such as Italian marble.

   30 minutes here · Admission not included

3. Mosque and Madrasa of Sultan Hassan

   The Mosque and Madrasa of Sultan Hasan is one of the largest and architecturally exquisite mosques in all of Egypt. It was commissioned by the Mamluk sultan Hasan ibn al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qalawun sometime between 757 AH/1356 AD and 764 AH/1362 AD, and is located at the end of Muhammad Ali Street, opposite its nineteenth century neighbor al-Rifa’i mosque in Salah al-Din Square. The mosque consists of an open courtyard with fountain in its centre. The courtyard is surrounded by four iwans (a rectangular space that is open on one side). Doorways at the four corners of the courtyard allow access into four madrasas, educational institutions, where the four Sunni schools of Islamic jurisprudence were taught. Each consists of a court and iwan, in addition to the rooms of the students and annexed service units. The mosque has two minarets built in the Mamluk style.

   60 minutes here · Admission not included

4. Gayer-Anderson Museum (Bayt al-Kiritliya)

   Geyer Anderson Pasha was an English officer who studied medicine in London. He was assigned as a doctor for the English military in 1904 and was deployed in Egypt in 1907. In 1935, Geyer Anderson submitted a request to the Assembly of Preserving Arab Antiquities to live in the two houses and to furnish them in Islamic-Arabic style. He proposed to gather a collection of pharaonic, Islamic, and Asiatic antiquities. These antiquities would belong to the Egyptian people following his death or when he left Egypt permanently. The assembly agreed. When Anderson left the house in 1942, his request was granted, and the two houses came into the possession of the Assembly of Preserving Arab Antiquities, which converted the building into the Geyer Anderson Museum. The house is a combination of two houses dating to the Ottoman period (16-17th century). The first house was built by the scholar ‘Abd al-Qadir al-Hadad in 947 AH/ 1545 AD. Lady Amina bint Salem later owned it.

   30 minutes here · Admission not included

5. Al-Azhar Mosque (Arabic: الجامع الأزهر, romanized: al-Jāmiʿ al-ʾAzhar, lit. 'The Resplendent Congregational Mosque', Egyptian Arabic: جامع الأزهر, romanized: Gāmiʿ el-ʾazhar), known in Egypt simply as al-Azhar, is a mosque in Cairo, Egypt in the historic Islamic core of the city. Commissioned as the new capital of the Fatimid Caliphate in 970, it was the first mosque established in a city that eventually earned the nickname "the City of a Thousand Minarets".[b] Its name is usually thought to derive from az-Zahrāʾ (lit. 'the shining one'), a title given to Fatimah, the daughter of Muhammad. After its dedication in 972, and with the hiring by mosque authorities of 35 scholars in 989, the mosque slowly developed into what it is today. The affiliated Al-Azhar University is the second oldest continuously run one in the world after Al-Qarawiyyin in Idrisid Fes. It has long been regarded as the foremost institution in the Islamic world for the study of Sunni theology and sharia.

   30 minutes here · Admission not included

6. The al-Hussein Mosque or al-Husayn Mosque, also known as the Mosque of al-Imam al-Husayn (Arabic: مسجد الإمام ٱلحُسين) and the Mosque of Sayyidna al-Husayn, is a mosque and mausoleum of Husayn ibn Ali, originally built in 1154, and then later reconstructed in 1874. The mosque is located in Cairo, Egypt, near the Khan El-Khalili bazaar, near-by the famous Al Azhar Mosque, in an area known as Al-Hussain. It is considered to be one of the holiest Islamic sites in Egypt.[4] Some Shia Muslims believe that Husayn's head (ra's mubarak) is buried on the grounds of the mosque where a mausoleum is located today and considered to be what is left of the Fatimid architecture in the building. At the end of the tour our guide will transfer you back to your hotel in Cairo

   30 minutes here

Where it starts and ends

Before you book

Cancellation

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Languages

ar, en, es

Ticket

Mobile Only

Runs on

Every day

Group size

Up to 15 travelers per booking

Operated by

Egipto Excursiones

Know before you go

• Public transportation options are available nearby
• Specialized infant seats are available
• Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
• Not recommended for pregnant travelers
• Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
• Suitable for all physical fitness levels
• Entrance fees -Depending on the Tour Options Chosen

Photos