Overview
Some 2.3 million blocks, averaging two and a half tonnes, rise to 138 metres today — the original 146 metres included a smooth casing that was stripped for medieval Cairo. The sides are aligned to the cardinal points to within a fraction of a degree. Inside, the Grand Gallery climbs 47 metres at a corbelled angle to the King’s Chamber, cut from granite hauled 800 kilometres from Aswan.
Highlights
Interior tickets are limited and sold at the gate each morning; the climb is steep, hot and airless, and is not for anyone claustrophobic. The 43-metre cedar ship buried beside the pyramid is the single most extraordinary object Giza has produced; it moved to the Grand Egyptian Museum in 2021, and the old boat museum on the plateau has closed. Ride or walk to the panorama point on the desert road for the classic three-pyramid line-up.