THE TOP OF THE GREAT PYRAMID

The view from the TOP of the Great Pyramid  

Illicit photos taken by tourists who secretly climbed wonder of the world at night

صور علوية للأهرامات 

A group of Russian tourists waited until official visiting hours were over at Egypt's famous Giza Necropolis, before scaling the enormous Great Pyramid as the sun began to set.The Russians managed to escape the attention of security guards at the ancient site, allowing photographer Vitaliy Raskalov to snap pictures of the surrounding desert and the majestic Sphinx from the top of the 455ft structure. Officials in Egypt put a stop to people attempting to climb the pyramids in the 1980s, but it thought some guides will still take tourists part of the way up the structures in exchange for bribes.

The group of Russians claim to have arrived at the complex early and waited in the shadows before starting their climb as night began to fall, according to a report on the English Russian. The Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and the only one to remain largely intact. It is thought to have been built as a tomb for an ancient Egyptian pharaoh over a period of around 20 years up to 2560BCE. The pyramid was originally covered by highly polished white casing stones that formed a smooth outer surface, but centuries of erosion mean the structure's stepped underlying core is visible today. It is thought to be made up of around 2.3million limestone blocks believed to have been transported from nearby quarries. Originally towering at 481ft, the Great Pyramid was the world's tallest man-made structure for over 3,800 years. Today it stands at 455ft tall, and is dwarfed by the 2,717ft Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which currently holds the title of world's tallest building.

THE TOP OF THE GREAT PYRAMID