In Pictures: Bulgarian President Visits the Pyramids, the Egyptian Museum and the Citadel of Saladin

By Akram Medhat

During his visit to Egypt, Bulgarian President Rumen Radev, his wife and their accompanying delegation toured a number of archaeological sites in Cairo, including the Pyramids, the Citadel of Saladin and the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir.

This morning he visited the Pyramids archaeological area on the sidelines of his visit to Cairo, accompanied during the tour by Ashraf Mohie El-Din, Director General of the Pyramids Archaeological Area. Mohie said the tour began with a visit to the inside of the Great Pyramid, which the Bulgarian president described as a big dream of his, expressing his happiness and admiration for the adventure, and he asked about the number of stones used to build this great pyramid, which is an important part of the great Egyptian civilization and its history.

The visit then moved to the Panorama area, where the visiting president and his wife made sure to take many souvenir photos with their accompanying delegation. The visit ended at the Sphinx, where he expressed his fascination with its shape and the way this wonderful statue was carved.

The Bulgarian president's first day in Egypt yesterday also included a visit to the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir and the Citadel of Saladin, where he was accompanied during the tour, which lasted about an hour, by Dr. Gamal Mostafa, head of the Islamic, Coptic and Jewish Antiquities Sector. The tour included various places inside the Citadel, particularly the Mosque of Muhammad Ali and his tomb.

The visiting president and his wife expressed their admiration for the mosque's architecture, asking whether the mosque had been built for worship only or to be a highly luxurious architectural structure. They also listened to some religious chants performed by Sheikh Saeed El-Refaey. The tour ended at the Citadel panorama behind the Mosque of Muhammad Ali, where the Bulgarian president and his accompanying delegation made sure to take souvenir photos.

For her part, Sabah Abdel Razek, Director General of the Egyptian Museum, said the Bulgarian president's tour inside the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir included visits to the largest number of halls, where she gave them archaeological explanations, noting that the president expressed his fascination with ancient Egyptian civilization in general and the unique artifacts displayed inside the museum in particular, expressing his respect for Egypt's history and archaeological greatness.