Visiting Assyut on Your Egypt Vacation

Assyut, Egypt is really two cities, a modern one and an ancient one. It was a capital as far back as 3100 BCE and its deities were associated with funerals and death. Many monuments and tombs.

Location and Size

Assyut is the capital of the current Asyut Governorate in Egypt. At one time, at approximately 3100 B.C. ancient Asyut served as the capital of Thirteenth Nome of Upper Egypt. The modern city is now the largest city in Upper or Middle Egypt and is located a little over 200 miles south of Cairo. There are about 400,000 residents in Assyut.

What to See?

What’s special about Assyut that makes the site worth seeing? The University of Asyut is certainly an interesting landmark and is one of the largest universities in the country. Other notable locations include the Lillian Trasher Orphanage and some monasteries outside of town. There is also a weekly train service from Luxor to Kharga, which assists in transportation for Egypt desert tours. Lastly, and a fact that undoubtedly adds to the exotic allure of Assyut, is that according to the Coptic Orthodox Church, this is the city where the apparition of the Virgin Mary once appeared.

Safety

However, it’s unlikely that you will see the Assyut today on any day tours in Egypt. That’s not to suggest that Assyut is lacking in historical interest; rather, the city is one of the most notorious locations in all of Egypt. Why is this? Some believe Assyut is the center for Islamic radicals who have been known to target foreigners and security forces in their war against the state.

It’s not necessarily that there is a lot of terrorist activity in Assyut. Rather, it’s just the idea that there have been some rare instances of violence that have blackened the name of Assyut in recent times. For some tourists this has caused them to avoid Middle or Upper Egypt altogether, while for other travelers, this bit of notoriety has actually attracted them to Assyut more so, as people can be quite fascinated by the idea of danger.

Good to Know

What should you know about luxury tours or budget tours and the city of Assyut? Whether or not you travel to Assyut, you should keep in mind that some Nile River cruises, trains and other traveling parties heading out to the oases along the old Nile will have to pass through Assyut.

Because of some admittedly rare incidents of violence, most tourist buses and Nile cruise ships will avoid the stretch of the Nile Valley around Assyut for the safety and peace of mind of their customers. They may start their expedition in Bahariya or Kharga and then travel around and back to Cairo or Luxor, rather than risk going through Assyut.

Additionally, ordinary traffic is filtered through along main roads while troopers and policeman stand guard. Therefore, Assyut is averagely safe, because of the extra attention given to security as the result of some extra unwanted attention from Islamic militants.

Now that you know the significance of Assyut, you can better plan your Egyptian itinerary.

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