 Its nice to be up high in
Cairo. It gives
one a prospective view of this great city, with it's very
modern and very ancient districts. Anyone who has stood atop
the Citadel
or from the upper floors of some of the taller hotels is
aware of the grand views that Cairo offers.One of the
best views is from the
Cairo Tower, located on
Gezira Island (Zemalak) just north of the Museum of
Modern Art (which is also very much worth a visit), which
provides a panoramic vision of Cairo. This 187 meter tall
tower, in the form of a latticework tube that fans out
slightly at the top, is said to imitate a lotus plant, and
ranks only fourth among the worlds highest towers. It is
made of granite, the same material often used by the ancient
Egyptians, and is about 45 meters taller than the
Great Pyramid at
Giza.
To the late President Gamal Abdul Nasser, the Cairo Tower
was the best place to dine out. He used to go together with
his family to dine in the tower’s restaurant, where there is
also a cafeteria. Today, the restaurant rotates at an almost
unnoticeable speed. Signatures of all the
 presidents and
various other prominent figures who visited the tower are
here in the honoring book and even engraved in the tower's
walls keeping unforgettable memories. But such politicians
were not the only ones who loved the tower. In fact, one of
its first visitors was Hollywood movie star, Katherine
Hepburn, even though the tower had somewhat of a rocky
footing back then in Egyptian-American politics. It was
actually financed with American funds, but was not exactly
what the Americans expected Nasser to do with the money.
 Completed in 1961 under the direction of Naum Chebib,
some say that the tower is, after the Great Pyramid,
Cairo's most
famous landmark. Certainly this tallest of Cairo's buildings
is a highlight of the modern city.
The best time to visit the tower, also known as Borj al-Qahira,
is at sunset, when millions of twinkling lights come to
life. From here, one can make out on a clear day the
easternmost extent of
Cairo, where the dark gray buildings run up against the
cliff face of the Muqattam Hills. Looking west, the
pyramids mark the limits of
 the city and the start of
the desert. Below, the Nile River flows serenely north to
the Mediterranean, seeming to slice Cairo in two. To better
facilitate the view, there are also telescopes.
The Cairo Tower opens every day from 9:00 in the
morning until 1:00 the next morning. The whole of
Cairo awaits you
at the top of the tower. This is not a sight one should
miss. Note that one must pay to take photos from the tower, and
video camera tickets are somewhat expensive.
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