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Interesting Things You Need to Know About Cairo, Egypt

Cairo, Egypt’s capital and the ‘the City of Thousand Minarets’, is one of the most beautiful and vibrant cities in Africa and the world.
Sucheta Pradhan
With beautiful architecture and alluring sights, Cairo is the city worth visiting!
“Cairo is one of the greatest storehouses of human achievement on earth, ranging from the pharaonic through the Christian and Islamic periods to the Belle Epoque.”  

― Michael Haag, Cadogan Guide Cairo, Luxor and Aswan
Cairo is the largest city in the entire Arab world and the most populous one in Africa.
Cairo’s Arabic name is al-Qahirah, literally meaning “the vanquisher". The Egyptians also refer to Cairo as Umm al-Dounia, the "Mother of the World."
Soccer is the favorite sport of Cairo. The city is home to two major football clubs with intense rivalry – Al Ahly and Zamalek. Interestingly, both of them share the same stadium.
Cairo won the title of being the most beautiful city in the world in 1925, despite strong competition from other major world cities like Berlin, Paris, and London.
Cairo is home to one of the oldest universities in the world, the Al-Azhar University, that was founded in 975 CE.
Cairo hosts the last remaining Seven Wonders of the Ancient World - the Great Pyramid of Giza, which was also the tallest structure ever made by ancient humans.
Cairo has the largest food court in the world that has a kids’ play zone and a movie theatre apart from numerous restaurants, which serve a huge array of delectable food.
The Khan el-Khalili, popularly known as the Cairo Bazaar, is one of the most famous bazaars in the world. It is the tourist’s haven for souvenirs like papyrus pictures, antiques, metal lampshades, and woven textiles.
The Citadel of Cairo is a medieval Islamic era fortification that overlooks the city from a cliff of the Mokattam Hills.
Now preserved as a historic site, it is one of the most impressive military fortification projects in the world.
One of the largest museums in the Middle East is the “Museum of Cairo” that holds the largest collection of Egyptian antiquities in the world.