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The Traveller's Magazine
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If you’ve always had Egypt on your must-see list, then consider booking those flights to Cairo soon. Tourists will soon be able to enter the courtyard of the Great Sphinx of Giza after lengthy restorations to the site.

The area surrounding the ginormous limestone statue, a symbol of Egypt, has been closed for almost four years now to allow for damage caused by both water and air pollution to be repaired. It is thought the Sphinx was built during the reign of Pharaoh Khafra between the years 2558 and 2532 BC.

According to Egypt’s antiquities minister, Mohammed al-Damati,

“The Sphinx courtyard will be opened for the first time since the restoration of the monument . Once the courtyard is opened, tourists can walk around the Sphinx.”

A restoration works included replacing stone slabs on the left side of the statue where there were cracks and adding a coating that should help prevent further erosion to the great monument on the outskirts of Cairo. A date for the reopening has not yet be set but we can hope it will happen this winter, during Egypt’s peak tourist season.

Img: sarahbaker / Flickr cc.

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