www.bbc.co.uk A huge granite statue of the ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses II was moved from the Cairo square where it has stood for more than 50 years.
The square has now become hemmed in by bridges, an underground railway and a mosque.
There are worries that heavy pollution is damaging the 3,200-year-old statue, which is 11 metres (36 feet) high and weighs about 83 tonnes.
It was moved to a site near the pyramids outside Cairo.
"Ramses will be happy now," said Zahi Hawass, the head of Egypt's antiquities council.
"He would have been unhappy in his tomb knowing that the statue was staying in such a mess where nobody can see him any more."
Mr Hawass said the statue originally stood in Memphis, one of the ancient capitals of Egypt, more than 3,200 years ago.
It was found in excavations in 1882. In the mid-1950s it was cut into eight pieces and moved to Ramses Square in central Cairo.
Ramses II ruled Egypt for more than 60 years during the 19th dynasty of pharaohs 3,200 years ago. He was one of ancient Egypt's most prolific builders. Statues and temples dedicated to him have been found all over Egypt, but the huge figure that once adorned central Cairo is the best known of his monuments. |