The oldest and largest of the three Giza pyramids, built for pharaoh Khufu (Cheops) around 2560 BC. It stood 146 metres tall when new — for nearly four millennia the tallest structure on earth — and still tops 138 metres with its original casing stones long since pillaged for mosques and palaces. More than 2.3 million limestone blocks were used in its construction, the largest weighing up to 80 tonnes each.
You can buy a separate ticket to enter the narrow ascending passage and the Grand Gallery up to the King's Chamber, where the lidless granite sarcophagus sits in darkness. The climb is steep, hot, and cramped — you will need to bend double for long stretches — but the experience is unlike anything else: you are inside the most extraordinary building ever made. Space is limited to around 300 visitors per day, so buy the interior ticket as soon as the gates open. The outer plateau circuit is included in the general admission and allows you to walk around the base of all three pyramids.
Three smaller subsidiary pyramids for Khufu's queens stand immediately to the east, and a large boat pit on the south face yielded the spectacular Khufu ship, now displayed in its own museum nearby.