Travel Egypt: Tracing Ancient Egypt's Greatest Legends
Today's Egypt has evolved into a fascinating destination combining the magnificence of its heritage with an eager spirit for positive change. We've seen that Egypt has always been quite the pioneer in innovation — for example, the creation of ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics and the world's most impressive monuments. Its intriguing society reveals an intriguing past, as the country has stood witness to the rise and fall of several civilizations, each group leaving a lasting mark on Egypt's cultural landscape. Over thousands of years, Egypt has been shaped by the influences of rulers including the Persians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, French and British.
Watch as history comes alive on a journey through ancient Egypt. Explore one of the earliest civilizations, retracing the epic tales of Alexander the Great and Cleopatra and feasting your eyes on architectural wonders such as the renowned Great Pyramids and the Sphinx. Travel to Egypt for the experience of a lifetime, where you'll walk among the ruins of the Ancient World's glorious structures and behold the splendor of its wealth, thriving arts and sacred way of life as it once existed long ago.
Cairo: City of a Thousand Minarets
On your Egypt travel experience, start in Cairo, Africa's largest city and the perfect jumping-off point into Egypt's unique blend of cultures.
First impressions will take you by surprise as you stroll through the bustling streets of this shoppers' paradise, absorbing the contrast of the region's wondrous antiquities mixed in with modern shops, open markets (bazaars), cafes and restaurants serving a combination of Egyptian foods.
Visit Coptic Cairo, the oldest area known in Egyptian history and the original site of Roman-built Babylon, which has been inhabited for more than 2,000 years. At the mouth of an ancient canal that once connected the Nile River to the Red Sea, it became heavily concentrated with the country's earliest churches and monasteries during the Christianity movement.
The Islamic quarter is worth exploring for its maze of streets and bazaars. Located on top of Muqattam Hill is the medieval Citadel, one of the world's best monuments to medieval warfare that houses a number of museums, ancient mosques and other historic sites. With its peculiar dome and towering minarets, the Mosque of Mohammed Ali gives the Citadel a romantic, oriental quality that instantly catches every visitor's eye at the fortress. Walk through the legendary Ibn Tulum, the oldest and largest mosque in the city surviving in its original form.
Resting along the Nile and guarded by the familiar Sphinx sculpture, the three Giza pyramids are more than tombs for kings — they are relics of Egypt's Old Kingdom, the first great civilization on earth. The most memorable is the Great Pyramid of Giza, the tallest man-made structure in the world for 3,800 years and remaining member of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
The once mighty Memphis, which was almost completely erased from the Egyptian landscape by time, is nestled in the vast necropolis of Saqqara. It contains 11 pyramids, countless mastabas and a Coptic monastery, stretching over four miles from north to south and spanning 3,500 years of Egyptian civilization.
Alexandria: Pearl of the Mediterranean
There was a time when Alexandria was once revered as the golden city of prosperity through its booming economy and art and architectural endeavors. During your travel to Egypt, visit Alexandria, the glittering jewel of the ancient world and the Greek's greatest legacy during their three-and-a-half century reign. The glorious Roman city is widely remembered for the enthralling stories of its founder, Alexander the Great, and his triumphant campaign to conquer the world (as the Greeks knew it). Unravel the tales of how this amazing city grew into existence and see the archaic places that continue to live in great remembrance for visitors everywhere.
Visit Pompey's Pillar, the 164-foot column of solid red granite that is majestic yet solitary from the bottom of its Greek inscribed base to the top of its Romanesque capital. Hewn in the bedrock of the mountains in the second century, Komash-Shuqqafa is the largest burial place in Egypt with three underground stories that accommodate more than 300 bodies. A spiraling staircase descends to the first two levels, complete with banqueting hall for funeral feasts, and the principal tomb with its eclectic clash of Egyptian, Greek and Roman symbolism.
Step into the grand entry of the ancient Roman Amphitheatre, where the sensation of intense heat, the smell of wild, fierce beasts and gripping hand and weapon combat resided. The only known example of a typically circular Roman theater in all of Egypt, it was the center of excitement in the glory days of the gladiators. In the 20th century, the site was rediscovered beneath modern-day Alexandria along with Roman roads, baths, houses, streets and theaters long forgotten.
Recently constructed where the original library once stood, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina contains the Ancient World's greatest and unrivaled collection including the original manuscripts of Euripides, Aeschylus and Sophocles. Behold the early writings from ancient Egypt that have survived through the ages, discovering past events and taking a glance of the world through the window of Egypt.
Watch many of these ancient tales unfold through an Egypt travel package diving deep into the once golden cities of Cairo and Alexandria, which have continued to build on the ancient cities' grandeur into the modern age. You'll find yourself surrounded in the ambiance of the Ancient World's greatest legacies that have survived and been told to generation after generation across the world.
If you're ready for the Egypt travel experience surpassing all other vacations, an experienced ASTA travel agent can get you there. From traveling camel back to the pyramids in ancient Egypt to exploring the tombs of illustrious pharaohs to soaking up the cultural city scene, let an experienced ASTA travel agent be your guide. When you travel to Egypt, you can trust that an agent will take care of booking the quality accommodations, transportation, tours and other services you seek.
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