Cairo (AFP)

The pyramid of Pharaoh Djoser in Saqqara, 4,700 years old and considered the oldest still visible in Egypt, reopened to the public Thursday south of Cairo after several years of renovation, found an AFP journalist.

"We are reopening today, after its restoration, the oldest pyramid still standing in Egypt", said, during a ceremony Thursday at the foot of the famous step pyramid, the Minister of Antiquities and Tourism Khaled el-Enany .

It is also the "first stone-built building in the world", according to the minister.

The renovation project of this monument had started in 2006 before being interrupted "for security reasons" related to the popular revolt of 2011. It had resumed in 2013, according to Ayman Gamal Eddine, responsible for the project at the Ministry of Antiquities.

The total cost of the restoration works is 104 million Egyptian pounds, or six million euros, according to the Egyptian government.

Located 20 km south of Cairo, the pyramid overlooks a vast necropolis in the region of Memphis, the first Egyptian capital.

About 60 meters high and six storeys high, this monument was built around 2,700 BC by the famous architect Imhotep, above a 28-meter deep cavity sheltering a pink granite tomb.

"The first to be interested in the preservation of the pyramid were the leaders of the 26th dynasty" in the 7th and 6th centuries BC, told AFP Mr. Gamal Eddine, showing the first visitors the millenary wooden beams which support, in places, the ceiling of the building.

The work was made necessary after an earthquake damaged the interior of the pyramid considerably in 1992.

In 2014, a controversy erupted when Egyptian media reported reports that the Djoser pyramid had been damaged by the renovations.

Egyptian NGOs then criticized this work, believing that it altered the original appearance of the monument.

"Until 2015, Unesco experts presented critical reports on the restoration project, we have since resumed work in accordance with Unesco standards. In 2018, Unesco presented us with positive reports", assured Mr. Enany on Thursday.

- Attract tourists -

The site, listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1979, is the first family necropolis in Egypt, a practice introduced by the pharaoh Djoser.

On this same necropolis of Saqqara, the Egyptian authorities had unveiled in April 2019 a tomb adorned with colorful reliefs and well-preserved inscriptions, belonging to a nobleman from the 5th dynasty (between 2,500 and 2,300 BC).

In recent years, the authorities have considerably strengthened their communication around archaeological finds in the hope of once again attracting tourists who have deserted Egypt because of the unrest linked to the 2011 revolt.

Archaeological sites are a major argument for Egypt in the face of competition from other tourist destinations, and in this context, Mr. el-Enany, Minister of Antiquities since 2016, also obtained the Tourism portfolio in December .

"We are working hard to build a new Egypt (...) and the restoration of our heritage is at the top of our priorities," stressed Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouli, present at the ceremony on Thursday, recalling the many gigantic projects launched by his government.

Among them are the construction of the new administrative capital and the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), both supposed to be inaugurated at the end of 2020.

© 2020 AFP