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An art gallery
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Champollion Palace
Now derelict, this once beautiful building is worth a look for its beautiful architecture, baroque and classical archways. Built in 1896 by designer Antonio Lasciac from imported Italian marbles and stone. This once beautiful palace and gardens are a reminder of the 'Glory days of Cairo'. The building was nationalized by President Nasser, and eventually transformed into Al Nassareya Boys School, which quickly destroyed the beautiful building.
For readers of Alaa al Aswani's best-selling book The Yacoubian Building. You can see the Yacoubian Building on Talaat Harb St where it still stands and where the story was based, although in the book it is referred to by its old name of Soliman Pasha St.
The museum is in a pink neoclassical building on the northern edge of Midan Tahrir. It's the product of the Egyptian Antiquities Service, established by the Egyptian government in 1835, to try to curb the looting of antiquities sites and artefacts. It opened in 1858 with a collection assembled by Auguste Mariette Pasha, the French archaeologist employed by Isma'il Pasha. After residing in an annex of the Bulaq palace in Giza from 1880, the museum moved in 1900 to its present location. It's a glorious ramshackle treasure-house that evokes Dylan Thomas' famous line about "The museum which should have been in a museum!" While many of the treasures have since been moved to the new Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, this is still a rich collection and well worth seeing.
Collections are showcased on the lower floors in the Silver Museum, the Arms Museum, the Royal Family Museum, and the Presidential Gifts Museum, and the Historical Documents Museum was added in 2006. The palace, designed in the 1800s by a French architect, is worth seeing including the fountain courtyard.
A fantastic way to spend an afternoon with the kids. The Cairo Puppet Theatre puts on a variety of shows including myths, fairy tales and fun children's stories.
Established in 1858 under authority of Khedive Tawfiq, the museum showcases pieces from mosques, homes, and palaces in Islamic Cairo.