Girga (west bank), a district capital with attractive brick houses (many of them decorated with glazed tiles), mosques and a Coptic monastery on the outskirts of the town. 4mi/6km northwest is the village of El-Birba, perhaps occupying the site of ancient This, the place of origin of the First and Second Dynasties and capital of the Thinite nome
4mi/6km west of Girga, at BeitKhallaf, is a large brick mastaba built in the reign of Djoser (Third Dynasty) which was frequently taken for the tomb of Djoser himself. Here and at the neighboring village of Mahasna are cemeteries of the Early Old Kingdom.