Giza Development Project

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Giza Development Project

Post by newcastle »

Giza development to open in April


The long-awaited Giza Plateau Development Project is to be inaugurated in April, reports Nevine El-Aref

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The Giza Plateau, which houses the Great Pyramid of the Pharaoh Khufu, the last of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, is not only one of the most important archaeological sites in the world, but is also one that has a special place in the hearts of people of all nationalities.

However, in the aftermath of the 25 January Revolution the area saw negligence and the encroachment of various businesses, disfiguring the serenity of the site and also putting off visitors.

Two years ago, the Ministry of Antiquities in collaboration with the Tourist and Antiquities Police put an end to such problems by removing the encroachments and resuming the Giza Plateau Development Project that had been stopped owing to a lack of funding.

The project aims to improve the site in order to make it more tourist-friendly and give it state-of-the-art security and lighting systems.

The first phase of the project was completed in 2010 with funds of LE52 million provided by the Ministry of Tourism. It included the improvement of the roads surrounding the Pyramids and the Sphinx and the installation of surveillance cameras.

In 2016, the government provided the funds for the project to resume.

“Almost 70 per cent of the project has now been completed, and it is scheduled to open in April,” Mohamed Ismail, director-general of the project, told Al-Ahram Weekly.

He said that after the completion of the project the plateau would be proclaimed a pedestrian area and access around the plateau would be by golf cart. A visiting route has been established to take visitors on an unforgettable promenade through the Old Kingdom necropolis. Cars and buses will park in a parking area in front of the plateau’s new entrance gate on the Cairo-Fayoum Road. The current gate on the Pyramids Road will be closed and used only for official visits.

A visitor centre will greet visitors upon arrival, preparing them for their tour with a detailed map of every monument on the site as well as background information on the Plateau and the Old Kingdom kings, queens, officials and priests.

“State-of-the-art technology will be used to display the internal design of the Pyramids through augmented-reality screens,” Ismail said, adding that a mobile application for the Giza Plateau would be launched by the ministry on the opening of the Project. An animated documentary for children would also be provided at the visitor centre.

The tour would include 14 stops starting and ending at the visitor centre. The first stop would be the panorama area where visitors will be able to admire the three Pyramids together at once. It would then go round the Menkawre, Khafre and Khufu Pyramids, he said.

“This route is the opposite of the older one, which started from the Great Pyramid of Khufu right next to the panorama area,” Ismail pointed out. He said that the aim of the new route was to make visitors more familiar with the site until they came face-to-face with the three Pyramids in the panorama area.

On their return, visitors will be able to visit the Giza Western Cemetery where the tombs of Old Kingdom officials are located, as well as the solar boats. The tour will end with the Sphinx.

A zone outside the archaeological site with the plateau as its backdrop has been allocated behind the visitor centre for horse and camel-riding as well as photo shoots.

Beside the visitor centre, there is also an administration building for ministry employees and an education centre that aims to educate junior archaeologists and young people on archaeological work. The project also includes 14 tourist bazaars, a bookshop, a cafeteria and a restaurant.

The education centre is near completion, as are the service roads to be used by the Tourism and Antiquities Police, the Ministry of Antiquities, or emergency vehicles.

Rubbish bins, information desks, and portable and fixed toilets will also be provided on site. Maps and signboards with detailed information on the different monuments on the site will be provided at the foot of each monument.

http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/News/23710.aspx


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Re: Giza Development Project

Post by Hafiz »

Sounds good.

As you know the Egyptian military now control Giza (and maybe other places) and take the money. Whether they listen to experts...well we will see. In any case aren't they they the world's greatest experts in all matters - including digging a new Suez Canal.

Old photographs of the area are a shock. Hundreds of trees/shade and green to break the blinding light. Before WW2 the trees also made the site human.

Some examples:Image

With European trees (?) from the 30's:
Image

This photo from the 1870's implies but doesn't prove there was a lot of irrigated/farm land/a green carpet near the Pyramids:
Image

There are other photos which are even more surprising but I'm too lazy to try and find them.

To now assume that modern Egyptian engineers,town planners and architects would create something attractive and functional is easy to answer. Give me one example of where this has happened anywhere on a site in 50 years. Generally speaking, but maybe not universal, the sites are ugly and not very functional. All have had millions poured into them but it seems to get worse. Over 50-70 years they have allowed chaotic urban Giza development. They had the choice and they made it.

Compare this with the Greeks who are known for corruption and stupidity. They have maintained a 2 story system of under stated traditional looking houses to surround the Parthenon, Agora, Pynx and theater of Herod Atticus. etc. It looks good. They have allowed trees to grow as they have at Olympia. But then the Greeks do have taste but others don't. Delphi doesn't work so well but it has a superb small museum run by people with a brain - as does the even better small Olympia museum which is a gem of intelligence and taste.

Please correct me if I'm wrong - on this matter I would like to be wrong.
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Re: Giza Development Project

Post by Winged Isis »

Agreed. Olympia and Delphi are wonderful sites, some of the best I've visited. The Olympia museum is indeed a gem, and I was delighted with the beautiful (pink) flowering trees (not sure what type), with the sun slanting through early in the morning.

I've never understood why there is no decent landscaping at Egyptian sites. You'd think shade would be a priority, right? The square behind Luxor Temple is a prime example. A stone desert. No doubt if there were funds allocated, they've been creamed off and into someone's pocket.
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Re: Giza Development Project

Post by Dusak »

I've been watching a lot of travel vloggs of late, trying to decide where I'm headed for my next holiday. One thing that has stood out is the organizational skills of those departments/people that take care and enhance the tourist areas. No money is spared, no corners cut, the tourist gets value for their money towards everything connected with their visit, while Egypt comes a very dismal last in everything connected to its tourism, the visitor can not even find a clean pot to **** in.
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Re: Giza Development Project

Post by newcastle »

Dusak wrote:I've been watching a lot of travel vloggs of late, trying to decide where I'm headed for my next holiday. One thing that has stood out is the organizational skills of those departments/people that take care and enhance the tourist areas. No money is spared, no corners cut, the tourist gets value for their money towards everything connected with their visit, while Egypt comes a very dismal last in everything connected to its tourism, the visitor can not even find a clean pot to **** in.
Still being forced to travel 'cos of visa problems D ? :lol: look no further than cyprus! has you know me and my wife saw the light and gave up on the sh*te of Luxor some time ago . not for us tired old stones and scruffy beggars pestering for baksheesh cyprus has loads of old ruins bootifly painted to make them look new and toilets !!! You can even get a decent burger real meat not donkey with lashings of real Heinz ketchup and Colmans mustard. Has the light fades they sets out seats in the ruins for the evenings show. we is off to see Elvis and the beach Boys tonight!! now thats wot I call culture. All for 10 euros..including residents discount now we've completed our papers.

P.S Talking of seeing the light Dont bother with iceland, still havent swiched them north lights things on gonna ask for refund and with $50 for a coffee its a bit deer even for rich people like us are.

Ta ta for now.
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Re: Giza Development Project

Post by Horus »

:lol: :lol: Youv'e been ghost writing again, I know someone else who needs some help :D
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Re: Giza Development Project

Post by newcastle »

Horus wrote::lol: :lol: Youv'e been ghost writing again, I know someone else who needs some help :D
I quite fancy myself as the reincarnation of Herodotus.

He didn't know much about Egypt either. I think he dreamt most of it up. Not a bad writer though.
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Re: Giza Development Project

Post by Horus »

Herodotus? isn't that near Pafos or is it nearer to Larnaca?
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Re: Giza Development Project

Post by Hafiz »

Winged Isis.

Probably an Oleander. They come in at least white (rare), pink and red and thrive in dry, poor soils in a hot climate. In the Pelopenese you will see bushes up to 5 feet lining the road for long periods. When I was last in the P. they were everywhere but I can't specifically recall whether they were on the site.

Here is a sort of OK photo - the leaves are probably 80% of the volume:
Image

They do well in the dryer to seasonally very dry areas of Australia (most/all soils are poor) and are as tough as old boots.Some people wish they were subject to disease or pests - but such are rare.

They are poisonous - mainly sap - and every 10 years or so you read of a Greek BBQ gone bad where they use the small branches to skewer the meat/vegs. Some die. Pruning them you need to be careful with skin cuts. Never cut them to put in a vase.

It would be interesting to know whether they grow in Luxor. They are fast growing but might not like rich soils or a very high water table. Salt might not be a problem - not sure. Once established they need little/very little water.

I think (not sure) you can strike them from a carefully cut twig. For quite a few decades they have been unfashionable in western middle class gardens.

The P. is special - particularly if you don't do what 95% do which is to take a fast morning bus from Athens (there used to be a narrow old train with ladies with chooks on their laps). Staying at Olympia means no one arrives from Athens before 11.00am and there is no-one after about 5.00am. Therefore you are in one of the most beautiful - possibly the most beautiful - arch site in the world and its quiet and civilized. Oddly staying in Olympia is cheap. To show how idiot lemmings tourists are there is a spectacular limestone Doric temple about 1.5 hours away at Basse. Its in a moonscape environment and when I saw it the mad Greeks had covered it with a great elevated waterproof sheet. Its amazing what the package misses - the beautiful temple to Aphae on the mountain top on Aegina (40 mins by fast ferry) is very quiet except that a young German stripped off, jumped the fence, and posed against the pillars in the nude to be photographed by his girlfriend.

How is it that Italy and Greece can survive with tens of millions of tourists each year and no or barely visible but helpful 'Tourist Police'. Italy has ten times the tourists per year? Why is it that others, who do so much better, beautify and clear their sites? With tens of thousands of Tourist Police in Egypt how can any site be dirty? What have the Supreme Antiques been doing for 70 years except appearing on TV or book promotions?

I suspect that part of the reason is there isn't a plan. Or if there is one which its part implemented or tossed away. Integrated planning/management with monitoring of what people do seems to be a very foreign concept whereas one off/impulse spending that is not linked with any larger thinking is the way to go. Very odd thinking for battlefield commanders who have to co-ordinate and schedule scores of inputs to fighting. That is meticulous and time sensitive.
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Re: Giza Development Project

Post by Dusak »

newcastle wrote:
Dusak wrote:I've been watching a lot of travel vloggs of late, trying to decide where I'm headed for my next holiday. One thing that has stood out is the organizational skills of those departments/people that take care and enhance the tourist areas. No money is spared, no corners cut, the tourist gets value for their money towards everything connected with their visit, while Egypt comes a very dismal last in everything connected to its tourism, the visitor can not even find a clean pot to **** in.
Still being forced to travel 'cos of visa problems D ? :lol: look no further than cyprus! has you know me and my wife saw the light and gave up on the sh*te of Luxor some time ago . not for us tired old stones and scruffy beggars pestering for baksheesh cyprus has loads of old ruins bootifly painted to make them look new and toilets !!! You can even get a decent burger real meat not donkey with lashings of real Heinz ketchup and Colmans mustard. Has the light fades they sets out seats in the ruins for the evenings show. we is off to see Elvis and the beach Boys tonight!! now thats wot I call culture. All for 10 euros..including residents discount now we've completed our papers.

P.S Talking of seeing the light Dont bother with iceland, still havent swiched them north lights things on gonna ask for refund and with $50 for a coffee its a bit deer even for rich people like us are.

Ta ta for now.
Funny :lol: Joking apart, I'm absolutely exhausted, worked far to much, had a lot of very minor health problems, nothing serious, but put together in a chain of events, tends to take it out of you. And yes, last years visa shenanigans did take its toll as well. A lot of friends kept asking me when would they see my work projects on my FB page, so I posted them a few days ago, realizing that even after three continuous years of jobs,I had another years work before everything is completed. Then last year I lost a good friend, a person not unlike myself that was continually working year in, year out with no end in sight. Then another long time friend here suffered a heart attack, another ''can't keep still'' worker. At least mine was far less stressful than these two, but all the same, I have had the beginnings of signs to slow down. Problem with me is, that I feel nothing like my age, so refused to slow down.

These short trips just to satisfy the visa rules are ones that I always considered a waste of time and money, so this year I'm going to disappear for a month to a place where I can enjoy myself, relax and chill out. When that will be is up to the visa office on this coming Tuesday, once I see what they have decided to give me, then its straight into the office and book my flights. I was told, as I stated at the time, my visa ''problems'' had been sorted out, so I'm expecting a six month stamp, but if they revert to their past games and give me a three month one or a leave in seven days, then I will take a short trip out, then leave again for my holiday a few months later. I no longer care what I receive visa wise, but having had quite a few conversations of late with long time friends living here, what I thought was just a campaign to make my life uncomfortable while living here, it turns out that I was only the tip of the iceberg, some are receiving far worse than I did with no end in sight. We all asked each other ''why do we continue to put up with it when we can leave by choice.'' There was no definitive answer forthcoming from any of us. At times, for us expats, this place seems to be an enigma of excepted misery.
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Re: Giza Development Project

Post by carrie »

Good for you Dusak, have you thought of Turkey? Plenty of flights from Hurghada both Turkish Air and Pegasus. I'm off there in May for an extended visit this time, so that I can see more of the country and visit friends. Plus where I am staying the beach is wonderful, the food fantastic but the hills the damned hills. The visa easily arranged via email, internal transport good and reasonable.
No tribute bands either.
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Re: Giza Development Project

Post by Winged Isis »

@ Hafiz: I'm sure they weren't oleanders, with which I am quite familiar as they are common in my part of Oz. They were nature-strip plantings by various local councils which now usually favour native plants. We had a couple in the back yard. We were always warned to be careful with them. I've seen them in various Mediterranean countries including Egypt. I'll have to dig out my photos from when I was in Greece in 1997 (pre-digital of course), and see if they show them close enough. Otherwise I'll have to find my magnifying glass.

I remember we arrived at Delphi and Olympia early before the crowds and had it almost all to ourselves. Quiet except for birdcalls. It was a bit misty and dewy until the sun burnt it off. Magic.
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Re: Giza Development Project

Post by Dusak »

carrie wrote:Good for you Dusak, have you thought of Turkey? Plenty of flights from Hurghada both Turkish Air and Pegasus. I'm off there in May for an extended visit this time, so that I can see more of the country and visit friends. Plus where I am staying the beach is wonderful, the food fantastic but the hills the damned hills. The visa easily arranged via email, internal transport good and reasonable.
No tribute bands either.
I'm looking at Asia, they have everything to make a perfect break, including no visa requirements for a month for UK passport holders.
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Re: Giza Development Project

Post by Hafiz »

WingerIsis. Surprised but the river soils in the Olympia precinct are pretty rich so not necessarily O. soil. Can't think of any alternative. The O. is widespread in the other less favorable areas of the Peloponnese.

I forgot to mention the Hermes in the Olympia Museum. Arguably the greatest sculpture in the world. Unlike Cairo its displayed in a room on its own and with discreet cordons. Beautifully lit. Whereas in Cairo objects are in dirty glass and wood boxes that you can barely see. What are the 50,000 Supreme Antiques doing - maybe they could clean the glass on the boxes - and the floors. Couldn't they do some spot lighting? The Greeks show objects worth E100 million without glass and machine guns. Can't Egypt do it?

The O. is a tough old thing and therefore used to be popular in Australia. I would have thought it would have been a municipal plant in Egypt - but Egypt doesn't really think much about plants and trees - except cutting trees down for wood. The preference is concrete/stone plazas - odd for a hot country but fit well with the military/ordered theatrical display motif that seems to infect modern public spaces - always at the expense of human needs and aesthetics.

I can't think of a modern public space in Egypt that is soft or human in any way - its usually 'heroic' or brutalistic.

Aesthetics and nature seem to be foreign concepts.
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Re: Giza Development Project

Post by Winged Isis »

I have recently finished a book called Oleander, Jacaranda by Penelope Lively, an autobiography of some early childhood years in Egypt.

I just googled and they are Judas trees (Cercis siliquastrum). Google Olympia Images and you'll see how prolific they are and how beautiful. It's the prettiest ancient site I've seen, and I've seen quite a few. Actually, when I hear or read about the site, the first memory that pops into my head is the trees rather than the ruins.


"but Egypt doesn't really think much about plants and trees - except cutting trees down for wood. The preference is concrete/stone plazas - odd for a hot country but fit well with the military/ordered theatrical display motif that seems to infect modern public spaces - always at the expense of human needs and aesthetics.

I can't think of a modern public space in Egypt that is soft or human in any way - its usually 'heroic' or brutalistic."


Exactly. it's always amazed me, considering how often gardens and water are mentioned in the ancient texts, as their slice of paradise on Earth.
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Re: Giza Development Project

Post by Hafiz »

Thanks. I've made a note of the book. I hadn't realized there were J's in Egypt but is seems upper class older gardens in Maadi have them. They would suit Egyptian public places marvelously and probably cope with the worst of the heat - if they had regular water.
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Post by Winged Isis »

I bought it as an eBook on Amazon.
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Re: Giza Development Project

Post by Dusak »

On my travels I see that there are an ever increasing number of concrete mushrooms magically sprouting up all over Luxor. Perhaps it is the governments thought that it may enhance the tourists 'trip.' I think they would need one or two to blot out what is glaringly obvious, there aint nowt worth seeing.
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