Private Islamic Cairo Tour: Explore the City of 1000 Minarets in a Day

Cairo

Cairo, distinguished as the biggest Islamic metropolis in the Middle East and historically dubbed as the ‘City of 1000 Minarets’, invites you to delve into the prime attractions of Islamic Cairo in a single day tour.

Duration: 7 hours

Cancellation: 24 hours

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Highlights

Cairo Citadel - Begin the tour at the Cairo Citadel, constructed by order of King Saladin. This impressive fortress, covering 153,000 square meters, was built between 1176 and 1183 CE to defend Cairo from the Crusaders. Shortly after defeating the Fatimid Caliphate, Saladin repurposed stones from the Giza Pyramids to expedite construction. It…

Cairo Citadel - Begin the tour at the Cairo Citadel, constructed by order of King Saladin. This impressive fortress, covering 153,000 square meters, was built between 1176 and 1183 CE to defend Cairo from the Crusaders. Shortly after defeating the Fatimid Caliphate, Saladin repurposed stones from the Giza Pyramids to expedite construction. It served as the Royal Court from Al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qalaoun’s reign until Muhammad Ali Pasha’s era in 1807 CE, who added two magnificent palaces, Salamlik and Haremlik, and the stunning Muhammad Ali Alabaster Mosque, a masterpiece of Turkish architecture, built between 1828 and 1848 CE, perched atop the Citadel.
Mosque and Madrasa of Sultan Hassan - Next, visit the Mosque and Madrasa of Sultan Hassan, a grand mosque and madrasa in Cairo’s old city, built during the Mamluk Islamic era. Construction began in 757 AH / 1356 CE and was completed in just three years without any delays. At the time, the mosque was notable for its immense size and innovative architectural features, commissioned by Al-Nasir Hasan. The Mosque of Sultan Hassan is one of the world’s largest mosques, often referred to as the “pyramid of Islamic architecture,” measuring 150 meters in length and covering 7,906 square meters. Its walls rise to 36 meters, with the tallest minaret reaching 68 meters.
Mosque of Ibn Tulun - Continue to the Mosque of Ibn Tulun, located in Cairo, Egypt. It is the oldest mosque in the city that remains in its original form and is the largest in Cairo by land area. The mosque was commissioned by Ahmed ibn Tulun, the Turkish Abbasid governor of Egypt from 868 to 884, whose rule was marked by de facto independence.
Sharia Al Mu’izz Li-Din Allah - Conclude the tour with a walk along Muizz Street, one of the oldest streets in Cairo, approximately one kilometer long. A United Nations study identified it as having the highest concentration of medieval architectural treasures in the Islamic world. The street is named after Mu’izz li-Din Allah, the fourth Caliph of the Fatimid dynasty, and is considered an open historical book of Egypt’s Islamic history.