Cairo - Moqattam Hills Gebel Giyushi

An attractive trip (half day) may be made from Cairo to the Moqattam Hills, or Gebel Giyushi, to the east of the city. From this 650ft/200m high range of hills of nummulitic limestone (fossils, including fossil trees) there are superb views; a particularly good viewpoint is the rocky spur to the south of the conspicuous Giyushi Mosque (1085). The area is sometimes closed to the public as a military zone; care should be taken not to photograph military features. A short distance northwest of the mosque, picturesquely situated on the slopes of the hills, is the Bektashi Convent, belonging to a Turkish Order of Dervishes.