Ancient site · Giza
Great Pyramid of Giza
Khufu's pyramid, the largest in Egypt and the only surviving Wonder of the Ancient World, crowns the Giza pyramid complex.
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The story
The Great Pyramid was raised as the tomb of Khufu, a Fourth Dynasty king of the Old Kingdom, around the 26th century BC, with sources differing on the construction span but putting it at roughly two decades or a little more. It originally stood about 146.6 m tall and remained the tallest human-made structure for more than 3,700 years. Over time most of its smooth white limestone casing was stripped away, lowering it to about 138.5 m, so what visitors see today is the core structure. Some 2.3 million blocks were quarried for it, with white limestone from Tura and granite from Aswan for the King's Chamber brought by boat along the Nile.
Good to know
- It is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and the only one to remain largely intact.
- Each side of its base is about 230 m long.
- It holds three known chambers, the lowest cut into the bedrock beneath the pyramid.
Visiting tips
Sources give differing visiting hours (roughly 7 or 8 am to about 4 pm, changing during Ramadan). Please check hours and prices before visiting, as they can change.