"CLEOPATRA AND MARCO ANTONIO" HONEYMOON Private Tour.

Arrival from the country of origin to the Cairo airport. Reception, visa procedures with the assistance of Holiplus staff. Transfer to the Steigenberger Pyramids Hotel. Accommodation and night at the hotel.

Breakfast. Departure to visit the famous Egyptian museum of pharaonic art that is located in the center of Cairo, in Tahrir Square. The ground floor, entirely dedicated to sculpture, painted reliefs and sarcophagi, is dominated by the colossal statues of Amonhotep III and Queen Tie, located at the back of the great atrium. Tutankhamun's funeral trousseau is exhibited on the first floor: the mask and gold sarcophagi, the jewels, the golden throne, the alabaster crockery and the furniture. The collections on display are so rich that they cannot be visited in a single day. Since Napoleon's military campaign in Egypt, European interest in Egypt has been arousing into a veritable mania for the pharaonic and the ancient. During the early years of the 19th century, European consuls and treasure hunters explored the country, some in search of relics and monuments and others in search of gold and precious treasures. In 1835, the Service des Antiquités de I'Egypte was founded to protect the country's monuments and treasures from local and foreign greed. At first, the found pieces were kept in a small building near the area of ​​present-day Azbakia, in the center of Cairo and later in the Saladin citadel. However and during the visit of the Austrian emperor, Maximilian, the governor of, Egypt Abbas Pasha gave him the entire collection! In 1858, Auguste Mariette prepared another museum, in the Boulaq neighborhood, which was later lost by a flood from the Nile. In 1878, the contents of the Boulaq museum were moved to the Giza palace of Governor Ismael Pasha, the governor of the Country. The collection remained there until the current museum was inaugurated in 1902. The current building was designed by the French architect, Marcel Dourgrion, in a neoclassical style, thinking that it would be the most suitable for its content. Two of the museum's floors are dedicated to public exposition and classrooms, in which more than 120,000 pieces from the different eras of Ancient Egypt are exhibited, arranged chronologically according to the clockwise direction. Objects from all periods of ancient Egypt are exhibited in the museum: - Predynastic period: such as stone vessels and funerary objects. - Old Kingdom: such as statues, paintings, reliefs and movable objects. - New Kingdom: The great treasure of Tutankhamun as well as statues, reliefs and objects from the period of Tal el-Amarna and the sarcophagus of Akhenaten, funerary equipment, jewels, models and other objects. - Late Period: Statues, reliefs and funerary objects. - Greco-Roman period: Statues and funerary objects. Sculptures from various eras are exhibited in the museum gardens.

Then visit the necropolis of Giza, which began to be used during the second dynasty, having found pottery dating from the reign of Nynecher. In it are the famous pyramids built by the pharaohs of the fourth dynasty Cheops, Khafre and Menkaure. Since they were created more than 4000 years ago, the pyramids of Egypt have been the most portentous and emblematic monuments of the Egyptian civilization, as well as the oldest and only wonder that is preserved, and in particular it is worth noting, the three great pyramids of Giza, the tombs of the kings Cheops, Khafre and Menkaure, whose construction dates back, for the vast majority of scholars, to the period called the Old Kingdom of Egypt. Its fame is due to two things. The first and most important is that for thousands of years they were the tallest buildings built by man. To give you an idea, the Great Pyramid is almost exactly the same height as the Picasso Tower in Madrid (one hundred and fifty meters high) and its base is so large that it can fit seven and a half football fields! It was not until the 19th century that a taller building was built in the world. The second reason is because they are very well preserved and can be enter them; something that Roman and Greek tourists were already doing at the time when Christ was born more than two thousand years ago. Of the other Egyptian pyramids, and many were built, only three others remain standing, the rest have been converted over the centuries into piles of rubble. The pharaohs were mummified and they were introduced into the pyramids along with some food and their most precious belongings to accompany them on their last journey. Although the exact date of construction of the great pyramids is not known, it is estimated that the works began around 2500 BC.

The Great Sphinx was the first truly colossal piece of sculpture from ancient Egypt. The Egyptians would not carve statues of these proportions again until the reigns of the pharaohs of the New Kingdom, some some 1,200 years later. It was carved into the natural bedrock at the very base of the Quefrén causeway in the shape of a real human head on a lion's body, symbolizing power and strength. controlled by the intelligence of the pharaoh.

The Temple of the Valley of the Pharaoh Khafre was built with megalithic blocks covered with red granite and the entrances to the temple were closed with huge one-leaf doors, probably made of cedar wood. The close association of the Sphinx with the Quefrén valley makes it more than likely that the Sphinx were carved for Quefrén. The sphinx is one of the great mysteries of all time and throughout several centuries there have been numerous speculations by archaeologists about its origin, its date of creation or its function.

After spending time there in front of the great pyramid fulfilling the dream of many of our passengers, return to the hotel and spend the night in Cairo.

Free day with the possibility of optionally visiting the famous city of Alexandria which is considered the Pearl of the Mediterranean and the second capital of the country. Alexandria is a port city located on the Mediterranean Sea in northern Egypt founded in 331 BC. C. by Alexander the Great. It is most famous in ancient times as the site of the Pharos, the great lighthouse, regarded as one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, by the Temple of Serapis, the Serapion, which was part of the legendary library of Alexandria, as a seat of learning and, once, the largest and most prosperous city in the world. He was also made infamous for the religious strife that resulted in the martyrdom of the philosopher Hypatia of Alexandria in 415 CE. The city grew from a small port city to become the largest and most important metropolis in ancient Egypt.

We will start our tour with the Catacombs of Kom Al Shokafa which constitute the largest burial place of the Greco-Roman era. Discovered in Alexandria, a particularly fascinating city of the ancient world, it is not surprising that they found a mixture of samples of different arts and early cultures that had been hidden in underground burial tunnels for centuries. The name Kom el-Shoqafa derives from ancient Greek and means "mountain of fragments", since it was the area where the broken pieces of pottery were piled up. These catacombs make up the largest known Roman necropolis in Egypt, and represent one of the last great construction sites dedicated to the religion of ancient Egypt. In order to display the characteristic fusion between the Greek and the Pharaonic style of Alexandria, the architects used a Greco-Roman design. The catacombs consist of three levels of tombs and chambers carved into the rock foundations to a depth of 35 m. Also, the catacombs, a name that means "underground tunnel", are located in the Karmouz district, east of Alexandria. This area received the name of Kom el-Shoqafa or, as we already mentioned, pile of fragments. The cemetery dates from the first century AD. C., and it was used until the fourth century, And it is also known as Catacombs of Alexandria, because its design is very similar to that of the Christian catacombs of Rome. It is probable that the Alexandrian catacombs were originally a private tomb that was later converted into a public cemetery. They consist of three levels excavated in the rocky bed, a staircase, a vault, the triclinium or banquet room, a vestibule, an antechamber and the burial chamber, formed by three cavities that each house a sarcophagus. The catacombs also contain a large n.-ñADXC_ x. cWQWEXESW number of niches carved into the rock, where the coffins are stored h <ag <n <.z- then visit Pompey's column the famous Library of Alexandria, a tribute to the legendary Library that tried to concentrate all written knowledge of antiquity.

Then lunch at a local restaurant and we will end our tour with a panoramic visit to the Quitbay citadel. The Qaitbay Fort, also known as the Qaitbay Citadel, is a 15th century defensive fortress located in Alexandria, Egypt. The Fort is located in the eastern part of the island of Faro in the port of Alexandria. It was erected in 1477 by the Circassian Mamluk Sultan Al-Ashraf Sayf al-Din Qa’it Bay, in the same place where the ruined lighthouse of Alexandria stood. He fortified the place as part of his coastal defensive project against the Ottoman Empire, which threatened Egypt during that time. He built the fortress and placed a mosque inside. The Citadel continued to function throughout most of the Mamluk period, the Ottoman period and the Modern Age, although after the British bombardment of Alexandria in 1882, it ceased to be a prominent place. It was abandoned until the 20th century, when it was restored multiple times by the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt. Today it houses a small museum of naval history and the Oceanographic Museum of Alexandria. The Qaitbay Fort of Alexandria is considered one of the most important defensive structures, not only in Egypt, but on the entire Mediterranean coast. It was constituted as an important part of the defensive system of Alexandria during the 15th century.

In the end, I return to the hotel.

Breakfast at the hotel, at the indicated time transfer to Cairo airport, to fly to Aswan. Arrival and direct visit to the High Dam of Aswan (known in Arabic as Saad El Aali). The Aswan Dam or Aswan Dam is a mega-construction, designed in 1956 and built between 1959 and 1970 by the Egyptian and Soviet governments, in order to end the floods that occurred in the territory of the lower Nile as a result of the sudden increase in the flow of the Nile.

Then visit the jewel of the Nile or the pearl of Aswan "The Temple of Philae", (located on a beautiful island in the Nile "Island of Agilka". This small island, an alluvial rock covered with granite, of only 460 x 150 m, it is located about 8 km south of the Aswan Dam in Upper Egypt, in an area that in ancient times was the border with Nubia. The Greek name for Philae is well known. Its ancient Egyptian name was P -aaleq, meaning "end" or "remote place", which later became Coptic under the name Pilak. Another meaning of the ancient name is "creation" or "island from the time of Re", which talks about the Egyptian creation myth of the place where the earth rose above the waters of chaos in the beginning of Creation. The Temple of Philae has great importance for the Egyptians since, according to legend, when the God Osiris was killed by his brother, who scattered his body throughout the country, his wife Isis picked them up and took refuge in the Philae Island to rebuild it. When you visit these ancient stones, which tell mythological stories of great value, you will discover that you are facing one of the wonders of the Ancient times.

Then transfer to the M/S Steigenberger Royale cruise ship, to stay on board on a full board basis. Lunch, and in the afternoon departure to enjoy a romantic and relaxing felucca ride along the Nile, passing through the wonderful islands of the Nile. Return to the boat, dinner and overnight on board in Aswan.

Free morning with the possibility of optionally visiting by road what they call the eighth wonder of the world, the temples of Abu Simbel which is one of the jewels of Egypt.

The Abu Simbel Temple is a huge rock-cut temple complex located near Egypt's border with Sudan. The two temples in this complex were built in the 13th century BC. C., during the reign of the great and powerful Ramses II. Although the group of temples is known today as the Abu Simbel temple, in the past it was called “Temple of Ramses, loved by Amun”. During the 1960s the Aswan High Dam was built, resulting in the creation of Lake Nasser. This fact threatened the existence of the Abu Simbel temple, whose transfer was completed in 1968. The construction of the temples took about 20 years to be completed and was carried out held during the reign of Ramses II (1279-1213 BC). Competing in beauty and spectacularity with the Pyramids of Giza themselves, the temple of Abu Simbel is one of the most spectacular constructions in Egypt. The complex is made up of several buildings, among which the Temple of Ramses II stands out, a true symbol of Egypt thanks to its impressive façade composed of four 20-meter-high statues that were carved directly on the rock. If the facade is imposing and impressive, the interior has nothing to envy. Huge rooms decorated with perfectly preserved frescoes surrounded by colossal statues that give way to different smaller rooms in a journey that is as artistic as it is mystical. Twice a year, on February 21 and October, in an act of astronomical perfection, magic is performed and the sun crosses the temple at dawn to illuminate the statues of the gods. Right next door is the Temple of Nefertari, the pharaoh's favorite wife. Smaller in size but similar in beauty, the facade of this temple has six figures carved into the rock and its interior has nothing to envy that of the main temple.

Then return to the ship, lunch and then navigation to Kom Ombo. Later visit to the Temple of Kom Ombo. The southern half of the temple was dedicated to Sobek, god of fertility and creator of the world, who appears alongside Hathor and Jonsu. In addition, the northern half of the temple was dedicated to Haroeris "Horus the Elder", who is listed alongside Tasenetnofret, the "Good Sister" (a special form of Hathor) and Panebtauy "Lord of the Two Lands." The temple is atypical for being double and symmetrical with respect to the main axis. Construction of the temple was started by Ptolemy VI Philometor (180-145 BC) early in his reign. It was expanded by other Ptolemies, such as Ptolemy VIII and Ptolemy XII, who are represented in the inner and outer hypostyle halls. The decoration of the inner face of the back wall of the temple is of particular interest, since it represents a collection of surgical instruments. Many parts of the temple have been destroyed by the action of the Nile, earthquakes, and its stones were even used for other later constructions. Some of the reliefs inside were disfigured by the Copts, who used the temple as a church. Some of the three hundred crocodile mummies discovered in the area are on display in the so-called Crocodile Museum.

At the end, navigation to Edfu, dinner and night to enjoy the costume party. (Galabya ​​Party).

Breakfast and departure to visit The Temple of Edfu (the best preserved in Egypt). The Edfu Temple is one of the largest in Egypt (the largest after the Karnak Temple. The temple was built on much older ruins dating back to Ramses III, and was erected over one hundred and eighty years under a variety of rulers during the Ptolemaic Period in Egypt. This period represented a time of Greek rule; all pharaohs were descendants of Ptolemy, a general in Alexander the Great's army who took control of the region a few centuries before the temple was built However, the temple embodies the traditional architecture of ancient Egypt and is largely free from Hellenistic influence. The temple itself is dedicated to the cult of the Egyptian god Horus, who was frequently fused with the Greek god Apollo. In fact , the city of Edfu was renamed Apollonópolis Magna during the Greco-Roman rule in Egypt. Several of the inscriptions found in the Edfu temple describe what is known as e l "Sacred Drama". The story describes the conflict between Horus, the deity of the fertile Egyptian lands near the Nile, and Seth, the deity of the surrounding Egyptian desert, as Horus seeks revenge for the murder of his father, Osiris. This story was recreated every year through ceremonies by the ancient Egyptians in the temple complex.

At the end of the visit, we return to the ship and we continue sailing towards Esna. The city of Esna is located on the bank of the Nile, about 55 km south of Luxor, in the Qena governorate, in Egypt. It was ancient Iunyt, the capital of Nome III of Upper Egypt, after Hierakonpolis and Eileithyaspolis. Egyptian name: Iunyt, Ta Senet. Greek name: Latópolis. Arabic name: Esna. When crossing the lock of Esna we will sail towards Luxor or formerly thebes; the city of a thousand gates and the capital of pharaonic Egypt during the new empire, where it exists The third of the ancient monuments of the entire world Luxor is an Egyptian population built on the ruins of the city of Thebes. Once we arrive, we will go to visit the Karnak temples. At the entrance of the temple, before crossing the first pylon, 40 ram-headed sphinxes will welcome you. It is the beginning of the Avenue of the Sphinxes that reached the Temple of Luxor and the Nile. The temple of Karnak, in Thebes, dedicated to Amun, was the main place of worship in Egypt since the New Kingdom. The photograph corresponds to the great hypostyle hall. Over more than two millennia, the pharaohs embellished the main cult center of Egypt, dedicated to Amun, the great god of the new kingdom. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Karnak amazed researchers even though it was in ruins. More than four thousand years ago, Intef II, king of the 11th dynasty, began work on the temple of Amun-Re in Thebes, where the modern town of Karnak stands. It was the nucleus from which, during the next two thousand years, dozens of pharaohs were creating and remodeling one of the richest and most spectacular places of worship of antiquity, in which archaeologists have cataloged more than two hundred structures.

Then we go to the beautiful temple of Luxor. The Temple of Luxor was built between 1400 and 1000 BC. by the pharaohs Amenhotep III and Ramses II, the first built the inner part and the second the outer enclosure, adding the façade, the colossi and the obelisks. The temple is 260 meters long and is dedicated to Amun (god of the wind). The temple has undergone many evolutions since, what was originally a temple of worship to the most important god of the Egyptian pantheon, Amun-Ra, was transformed with the Over the years to house the cult of other deities. During the Ptolemaic era, Serapis, a syncretic god who combined Egyptian and Greek tradition, was worshiped. Later, during the time of Roman rule, a chapel was installed in honor of Augustus, the emperor who was deified, and later, when the Roman legion turned the temple into a fort, it housed the worship of other Roman deities. Centuries later, with the arrival of Christianity and the acceptance of this religion by the Empire, churches were built inside the great enclosure of the temple and today remains of one that was located in the courtyard of Ramses can still be seen. II, over which a mosque dedicated to Abu El-Hagag, a local saint whose relics are kept inside, was later installed. In short, between the passage of Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Christians and Muslims, this temple has had cult activity for more than 3,500 years and today it maintains its mosque active, so we can hear the call to prayer while we contemplate the ruins of this pharaonic temple. In short, between the passage of Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Christian For both he and Muslims, this temple has had a cult activity for more than 3,500 years and today its mosque is active, so we can hear the call to prayer while we contemplate the ruins of this pharaonic temple. When the sun goes down in the afternoon and they start to put the night lights, there you will see that the temple impacts a lot with these lights.

Return to the ship, dinner and overnight on board in Luxor.

Breakfast on board. We are going to fly on the wings of imagination 3500 years ago, to be able to imagine where the pharaohs had hidden their tombs that make up the famous Valley of the Kings (including 3 royal tombs). This valley is the place where most of the pharaohs of the New Kingdom were buried, that is, from that time when ancient Egypt was an empire that extended along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean (the 18th, 19th and 20th dynasties ). It was there that they were buried, for example Thutmose III, Tutankhamun or Ramses II. In the beginning, during the Old Kingdom and the Middle Kingdom, Egyptian kings were buried in pyramids built in the northern part of the country, near Memphis, which was the capital. After the last pyramids were built, Egypt went into crisis and the pharaohs lost their power. From Asia came a group of people who dominated the Delta area, they were the Hyksos. Meanwhile, the southern part of the country was left in the hands of a ruling family based in Thebes. All the Valley tombs are different, but according to their structure they can be divided into two main groups. The oldest ones are steep and start with a straight corridor. After several corridors and stairs, the corridor turns to the left and it is there that the burial chamber is located. This type of tomb was built during the 18th Dynasty. The second type of tomb is completely straight and has little slope, they are like a long corridor, with stairs, corridors and rooms one behind the other. This type of tomb was the one that was built during the XIX and XX Dynasties. In ancient times the valley was called "Ta Iset Maat", which means "place of truth". The first pharaoh to be buried in the Valley of the Kings was King Tuthmosis I, a pharaoh of the 18th dynasty. It is worth mentioning that the workers who built the tombs of the pharaohs in the Valley of the Kings lived concentrated in the town of Deir el-Medina, to ensure that the location of the graves was kept secret.

He then visits the temple of Queen Hatchepsut, which is one of the most prominent we have in Egypt. At the same time, it is an unusual temple in the way it was built. The temple became a true marvel of the engineering of the ancient builders. Today, it is considered one of the most famous structures in ancient Egyptian architecture.

We will finish our tour with the visit of the two colossi of Memnon which represent the pharaoh Amenhotep III. The Colossi of Memnon (in Arabic al-Colossat or es-Salamat) are two gigantic stone statues that represent Pharaoh Amenhotep III, who ruled during the 18th Dynasty of Egypt. They are located on the west bank of the Nile, opposite the Egyptian city of Luxor, near Medinet Habu and south of the great Theban necropolis. The two twin statues show Amenhotep III in a seated position; his hands rest on his knees and his gaze is directed east, toward the river Nile and the rising sun. Two smaller figures, located next to the throne, represent his wife Tiy and his mother Mutemuia; the side panels show a bas-relief allegory of the god of the annual flood, Hapy. The statues are carved from large blocks of quartzite, brought especially from Giza and from the quarry of el-Gabal el-Ahmar, near present-day Cairo. The stones are believed to be too heavy to have been transported across the Nile River. The blocks that were later used by Roman engineers to rebuild the northern colossi may have come from Edfu, north of Aswan. Including the stone bases on which they stand, the statues have a total height of eighteen meters and an estimated weight of 720 tons each.1 2 The two figures are separated by about fifteen meters. Both statues are badly damaged, the cracks of which have rendered them unrecognizable from the waist. The southern statue is made of a single stone block, while the northern one is especially damaged in its lower half and five stone blocks are differentiated above the waist. These upper levels are composed of various types of sandstone and are the result of an attempt at reconstruction, according to William de Wiveleslie Abney attributed to the Roman Emperor Septimius Severus.3 Both statues are believed to be identical, although the inscriptions may have been different. The original function of the colossi was to preside over the first entrance of the three existing pylons in the funerary complex of Amenhotep III: an immense construction made during the life of the pharaoh, where he was worshiped as a god on Earth. In its time, it was the largest and most opulent temple in Ancient Egypt. Occupying a total of 35 hectares, even the Karnak temple was smaller in size and other later temples such as the Ramesseum or Medinet H abu. However, with the exception of the Colossi, there are hardly any visible remains of the temple of Amenhotep. It was located on the bank of the floodplain of the Nile, and these annual floods destroyed its foundations (a famous 1840 lithograph by David Roberts shows the Colossi surrounded by water), and even some rulers dismantled, stole and reused the ashlars. There are four other fallen colossi flanking two other missing pylons that an international mission is trying to recover. The Spanish archaeologist Miguel Ángel López Marcos has managed to direct the restoration and reconstruction of the third colossus of Memnón, weighing some three hundred tons.

Then transfer to the Sonesta St George hotel, to stay on a half board basis, dinner and night at the hotel.

Breakfast. At the indicated time, transfer by road to Hurghada, arrival and transfer to the Marriott Hurgada Beach Resort hotel, to stay on a half board basis. Dinner and night at the hotel.

Hurghada (Arabic: الغردقة al-Garda'a) is a major tourist city in Egypt, located on the Red Sea coast, capital of the Red Sea Governorate. Tourist resorts and hotels offer water sports facilities for sailing, sailing, scuba diving and diving. Hurghada is known for its water sports activities, nightlife and a warm climate. The daily temperature oscillates between 30º C most of the year. Large numbers of Europeans spend their Christmas and New Year holidays in the city, mainly Germans, Russians, Ukrainians and Italians. Hurghada stretches for about 36 kilometers along the seashore, and does not go far into the surrounding desert. The resort is a destination for Egyptian tourists from Cairo, the Delta and Upper Egypt, as well as Europeans. Today Hurghada has 248,000 inhabitants and is divided into three parts: Downtown (El Dahar) is the oldest part; Sekalla is the center of the city; The Memsha (Village Road) is the modern part. Hurghada was founded in the early 20th century. At the beginning it was a fishing village, but since the eighties the city has not stopped growing due to the multiple investments made to make this coastal city of the Red Sea one of the most appreciated places by tourists. This is due, in particular, to the authorizations granted free of charge and without conditions by the State to real estate developers. Sekalla is a modest hotel square. Dahar is where the city's biggest bazaar, the post office and the long-distance bus station are.

Free day to practice any water activity at the bottom of the Red Sea or enjoy the hotel facilities.

Free day to practice any water activity at the bottom of the Red Sea or enjoy the hotel facilities.

At the indicated time, transfer to the Hurghada airport, to fly to Cairo, then connection with the international flight to your country of origin.

End of trip and our services.