Opera Aida bids farewell to Egypt's pyramids

Egyptian Minister of Culture Farouq Hosni has ordered the removal of the makeshift theater at the Giza Pyramids in Cairo's suburb, which was used for performances of the opera Aida, the Egyptian Gazette reported on Thursday.

The decision has been made at an urgent request by Secretary General of the Supreme Council Antiquities Zhai Hawas.

"The temporary construction has posed a threat to the famous archaeological area," said Hawas.

Mansour Beirk, an archaeological official responsible for the Giza Pyramids, said the dismantling of the theater would begin in the next few weeks.

The annual performances of Aida were moved in 1988 from Luxor, one of the country's most popular tourists sites, to a temporary theatre built at the 4,500-year-old Giza Pyramids.

Aida is a classic tale of love, jealousy, betrayal and death that tells the story of an Egyptian princess who falls in love with an army commander.

The opera was commissioned by Egypt's Khedive Ismail and composed in 1869 to mark the opening of both the Cairo Opera and the Suez Canal.

Source: Xinhua