Coptic Cairo and the Hanging Church

The Oldest Christian Quarter In Egypt, Built Into And Over The Roman Fortress Of Babylon: The Hanging Church Suspended On The Old Gate Towers, Saint Sergius Over A Crypt Where Tradition Places The Holy Family, The Ben Ezra Synagogue That Held The Cairo Geniza, And The Coptic Museum'S Collection Of Textiles And Icons All Within A Few Hundred Walled Metres · Cairo, Cairo

A few hundred metres of walled lanes in Old Cairo hold the oldest Christian quarter in Egypt, and it is built on top of a Roman fortress. The Hanging Church gets its name honestly: it is suspended across two towers of the old Babylon gate, with sections of glass floor so you can see the drop, and it has been rebuilt so many times since late antiquity that it is really a history of Coptic building in one roof. Saint Sergius stands over a crypt where tradition places the Holy Family during the flight into Egypt. A short walk away the Ben Ezra synagogue, the oldest in Egypt, is where the Cairo Geniza was found - a storeroom of something like three hundred thousand documents that rewrote what historians know about medieval Jewish and Mediterranean life. The Coptic Museum next door holds the textiles, icons and carved wood. It is quiet, walled, shaded and compact, which makes it the easiest hour in Cairo.

In Old Cairo beside Mar Girgis metro station, 5 km south of the modern centre on the east bank, Cairo, Cairo, Egypt

The quarter is a walled compound entered beside Mar Girgis metro station, with the churches open daily in daylight, free, and the Coptic Museum keeping its own hours and ticket. These are working churches, so visiting fits around services and the quarter is busiest on Sunday mornings and Coptic feast days. SAINT SERGIUS' CRYPT FLOODS and has been closed to visitors for years at a time, so do not plan around it; the Ben Ezra synagogue's opening and its photography rule have both varied. Dress is enforced: covered shoulders and knees, and a scarf for women inside the churches. The Coptic Museum closes sections for rehanging. Mar Girgis is on the metro, which is by far the easiest way here from central Cairo and avoids the traffic entirely.

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