Obelisk of Senusret I

This towering red-granite obelisk is the oldest still standing in its original place in Egypt, raised nearly 4,000 years ago by the Middle Kingdom pharaoh Senusret I to mark the ancient sun-worship city of Heliopolis, once one of the most sacred sites in the land.

Heliopolis was the cult centre of the sun god and a wellspring of Egyptian religion, but the great city has almost entirely vanished beneath modern Cairo's north-eastern suburbs. The lone obelisk, weathered but upright, is its most tangible survivor — a solitary finger of stone amid the streets.

For history-minded travellers it is a poignant, easily reached stop that connects today's sprawling capital to one of Egypt's most venerable holy places.