Private guide5.0
Cairo
Private Old Cairo Tour: Islamic Cairo, Coptic Cairo and Khan El Khalili
Mosques, churches, the synagogue and the bazaar, by car and on foot, with lunch.
7 hPrivate
€70Cairo and Giza
Coptic Cairo
The Roman fortress, the Hanging Church and the crypt of the Holy Family.
- Fortress of Babylon
- Roman, rebuilt by Trajan c. AD 100
- Hanging Church
- Al-Muallaqa, 3rd–4th century, over the fortress gate
- St Sergius
- Crypt of the Holy Family's stay in Egypt
- Ben Ezra
- Synagogue, source of the Cairo Geniza documents
Coptic Cairo is the Christian quarter inside the walls of the Roman fortress of Babylon: the Hanging Church built over the fortress gate, the Church of St Sergius and Bacchus with the crypt where the Holy Family is said to have sheltered, the Ben Ezra Synagogue and the Coptic Museum. A visit takes one to two hours and is part of our Cairo day tours and the private Old Cairo tour.
Visiting
Babylon was the Roman fort at the head of the Nile delta, and the Copts built their churches inside its walls after the Arab conquest. The Hanging Church takes its name from its nave suspended over the fortress gatehouse; its 110 icons and the marble pulpit on thirteen columns date from the 11th century and later.
The Church of St Sergius and Bacchus stands over a crypt that tradition names as the place where Mary, Joseph and the child Jesus stayed during the flight into Egypt; the Coptic liturgy still marks the visit. The Ben Ezra Synagogue nearby yielded the Geniza, 300,000 medieval documents found in its storeroom in 1896.
The Coptic Museum holds the largest collection of Christian Egyptian art, from Roman-era textiles to the Nag Hammadi gnostic codices. The whole quarter is walkable in an hour and a half and sits on the metro line at Mar Girgis.
Tips from our guides
- Shoulders and knees covered; hats off in the churches
- Sunday mornings the churches hold services; visit after 11:00
- The quarter is small; combine it with the Citadel and Khan El Khalili
Best time: Any season, late morning or afternoon.
Questions
Yes, daily, free of charge, outside service times. Dress modestly.
Because its nave is built over the southern gatehouse of the Roman fortress, suspended above the passage.
30.0055 N, 31.2300 EOpen in Google Maps
