Agricultural Museum

This has the distinction of being the oldest agricultural museum in world with stuffed animals, racks of luminescent birds, Egyptian farming practices and photos of medical anomalies. It might sound tedious, but it is a slice of unspoilt history – the museum itself ought be in a museum – full of waxy wooden display cabinets and housed in glorious buildings engraved with decorative flora and fauna. Downstairs in the main Scientific Museum, countryside scenes are brought to life by statues of farmers at work and gruesome pictures of rural diseases. The many animals that were worshipped, hunted or eaten – cats, ostrich, Apis bulls and falcons – are here as mummies or skeletons. Unfortunately the labels, in a variety of languages, give little information if they exist at all.

The ticket price includes entrance to 10 museums in the grounds. The strangely beautiful Bread Halls reveal the story of bread in Egypt, with plaster-casts of the various forms of this staple food and interesting old photographs. The Cotton Museum surveys cotton-growing in Egypt and the Ancient History Museum contains quite a choice range of pharaonic artefacts; both are housed in Soviet-style edifices but are currently closed for renovation. Also on site is the palace of the Princess Fatma, daughter of Khedive Ismail, which is accessible to those with special interest. Meticulously maintained on two levels, the museum displays her ornate furniture, many beautiful works of art, and collections of ivory curios, old cameras and Persian carpets. The gardens surrounding the museum are a peaceful place to relax, full of old palms and flowering trees.