4 Best Sights in Downtown Cairo, Cairo

After living in Paris, the 19th-century Khedive Isma’il embarked on a mission to create a European-style district in Cairo, both as a way to modernize the city and to cement his political legitimacy. His plans included this square, originally named Ismailia Square, and it became a popular Cairo hub. Although in subsequent decades it lost favor owing to its association with colonial rule, it remained an epicenter for political demonstrations, evolving into a symbol of liberation.

After the 1952 Revolution, its name was changed to Tahrir Square (Liberation Square), and it was a focal point during both the 1977 Egyptian Bread Riots and the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. In 2021, history was made here yet again when the Parade of Mummies passed through the square, in a grand spectacle celebrating the transfer of 22 mummies from the Egyptian Museum to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization. Today, the obelisk of Ramses II, moved from the Tanis archaeological site, stands tall here.

This huge neoclassical building, a Downtown landmark on the north end of Tahrir Square, was masterfully designed by French architect Marcel Dourgnon. It opened in 1902, making it one of the oldest archaeological museums in the Middle East—and one of the largest, with a collection of ancient Egyptian artifacts so vast that it would have taken nine months to complete a tour if you spent just one minute studying each item.

Although some of the museum's treasures have been moved to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization—and most of the Tutankhamun finds are now in Egypt's newest archaeological repository, the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza—the breadth here is still staggering. Galleries take you through millennia, from the Predynastic Period (6000 to 3100 BC) through the Greco-Roman Era (332 BC to 313 AD). The Tanis Treasure includes gold masks, jewelry, solid-silver coffins, and other artifacts dating from between 1076 and 945 BC. Don't miss the animal mummy rooms, especially if you have kids in tow, or the Fayyum portraits: done on wood, these very lifelike paintings put you face to face with one individual Roman-era Egyptian after another.

Designed by French architect Léon Rousseau, this massive palace was commissioned by Khedive Isma’il to serve as the official government headquarters in place of the Citadel. Construction began in 1863, and the palace was officially inaugurated in 1874, with a new wing added in 1891. The gardens, however, were not added in until 1921, by Sultan Fuad I before he became king. Much of the palace is closed to the public, but it's worth stopping by to take in the architecture, the well-maintained garden dotted with old-growth trees, and the small museum. The latter occupies just a handful of the massive palace's 500 ornate rooms and has displays of weaponry, silverware once used by the royal family, and other items.

Over the centuries, during Europe's many waves of persecution and expulsion, Jews sought refuge in Muslim lands such as Egypt, where they were protected as People of the Book. The Jewish community lived in peace alongside Muslims and Copts for generations, and it was only in the 20th century, with the founding of the state of Israel and the 1952 revolution’s privatization, that political and cultural tensions arose. Although not open to the general public, it's still worth noting this synagogue, an unusual concrete block with a subtle art-nouveau floral motif (the stained-glass windows are rumored to have been done by Tiffany). Financed by some of the Jewish community’s most powerful men, it was designed by architect Maurice Cattaui and erected in 1899.