Geoota Travel's professional and friendly licensed tour guide will pick you up from your hotel lobby.
Today's central visit is to the Citadel of Salah El-Din & The Alabaster Mosque. Al-Nasser built the citadel (the victorious) Sallahuldin the Ayyubid in 1176 AD as a stronghold defense castle to stop the Crusader's attacks on Northern Africa; the location of the fort was genius; it served its purpose.
After the decline of this dynasty, the Mamluks ruled Egypt and were followed by the Ottoman dynasty head. Sultan Mohamed Ali took care of the citadel, brought life back to the fort, and built his great mosque (Alabaster Mosque) on top of the same engineer's citadel (Yusuf Bushnaq) who built the blue mosque in Istanbul early 19th century.
Then visit Sultan Hassan mosque & Al-Rifa'i mosque below the citadel cliff; two of Egypt's grandest mosques are found. They look alike even though one is built during the reign of the Mamluk Sultan Al-Nasser Hassan. Those mosques go by the fourth pyramid of Egypt due to its excellence in limestone usage, facing a nearly 400 years younger mosque started by Hoshiyar Qadin (Lady Khushyar), the wife of Ibrahim Pasha, son of Sultan Mohamed Ali. The lady's grave and tombs of the ottoman kings (King Farouk I, Khedive Ismail) and her grandchildren are all buried here at Al-Rifa'i mosque (Royal Mausoleum of Muhammad Ali's family).
The Empress, Farah Diba, mother of Reza Pahlavi II, former Crown Prince of Iran, regularly visits the Shah of Iran tomb, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, accompanied by Mrs. Jihan Sadat, the late President Mohamed Anwar Sadat's wife.
The driver will be waiting to take you back at the end of the tour.