The Main Hall
Opera and ballet.
لا روسا — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Daniel Csörföly — Public domain · AkRaM — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Yasser.mahmoud — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Karim ahmed el amin — CC BY-SA 4.0 · لا روسا — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Francesco Gasparetti from Senigallia, Italy — CC BY 2.0 · Yasser.mahmoud — CC BY-SA 4.0
Egypt's largest arts centre, on Gezira island in the Nile, opened in 1988 with a grant from Japan to replace the old Khedivial Opera House, which Khedive Ismail built in 1869 to celebrate the opening of the Suez Canal and which burned down in 1971. The building is designed in a modern Islamic style, with white domes, arches and ornament, surrounded by gardens, squares and fountains. It houses the Main Hall for opera, ballet and orchestra, smaller halls for Arabic music and concerts and an open-air theatre, and the Museum of Modern Egyptian Art stands in its grounds. All year it hosts the Cairo Symphony Orchestra, the Cairo Ballet, the Arabic Music Ensemble and visiting companies from around the world, plus the Arab Music Festival every autumn. Ticket prices depend on the performance and seat, bought at the box office or on the official website. Formal dress is expected in the Main Hall, usually a jacket for men. The gardens can be strolled by day, close to Cairo Tower.
Opera and ballet.
A festival each autumn.
A stroll by the Nile.
Gezira grounds, Zamalek, Cairo
Cairo TowerA concrete tower on Zamalek island, a hundred and eighty-seven metres high, buil6 minutes walk4.2
Egyptian MuseumThe red building on Tahrir Square, the oldest archaeological museum in the Arab 15 minutes walk4.4
Manial PalaceA lavish palace on Rhoda Island in the Nile, built in the early twentieth centur20 minutes walkYes in the Main Hall, where formal dress and usually a jacket for men are expected; the other halls are more relaxed.