Cairo
- the Triumphant City - is the glorious capital of Egypt, the cradle
of civilization and the beacon of religion.
It is the
largest city in the Middle East and Africa and lies at the centre of
all routes leading to, and from the three continents: Asia, Africa and
Europe.
Known as
the jewel of the east, it's the throbbing, pulsating heart of Egypt,
the gateway to its ancient past as well as its thoroughly modern metropolis.
Greater
Cairo extends on the banks of the River Nile to the south of its delta.
Here the Nile divides into its two distributaries: Rosetta and Damietta.
It is the
city where past and present meet. On its eastern edge are the relics
of over 2,000 years of Islamic and Coptic civilisation, from the mosques
and minarets of Saladin's Muslim Citadel to the Christian churches of
the lost fortress of Babylon.
On
its west side lies the Ancient Egyptian city of Memphis (Giza), the
renowned capital of the Old Kingdom and the site of the Pyramids, the
only wonder surviving of the Seven Wonders of the World.
Cairo's
streets and alleyways throng with the smells, sounds and sights of its
Twenty million citizens, from the hagglers of the Khan al-Khalili bazaar
to the chattering crowds in its traditional coffee houses.
Indeed,
a journey through Cairo is a journey through time... A journey through
the history of an immortal civilization.
