Christian Cairo, Cairo

1 more image

As I was told, the Cathedral of Al-Qiddis Morcos (St Mark), that was recently built in Abbassia, a suburb of Cairo, is the largest church in Africa.

Unfortunately at the time of our visit the cathedral was closed and despite all our efforts it was impossible to visit it inside.

with a 10% christian population, egypt boasts many churches. in coptic cairo there were as many as 20 per sq mile (or something like that the rep spoke baaaaad english) in the area now there are 5 coptic churches worth taking a look at. there is also a synagogue and the oldest mosque (645 ad if i remember correctly, but correct me if wrong)

4 more images

Small city just outside Cairo, Zeitun is the place where from 1968 to 1970 Virgin Mary appeared in different forms over the Coptic Virgin Mary Church.
The events started on April 2nd 1968, with the apparitions of some "spiritual images" similar to dove-shaped luminous bodies flying around the church.
Few seconds after, a bright figure, initially having a confuse form and dimensions, took the characteristics of a human body.
The apparitions lasted from a few minutes up to several hours.
They were seen by millions of Egyptians and foreigners, Copts, Orthodox and Roman Catholics, Protestants, Muslims, Jews.

I can not remember where the photo was taken, but it was of a Christian School, in Coptic Cairo.

I remember walking around the Coptic area & 3 teenage girls in school uniform came up to us for a chat. None of there were happy about the restrictions of living in a Muslim country even though they were Christian & they hoped one day to move to a Christian country. Teenagers are always not happy about restrictions, but we did feel sympathy for them.

7.Visit the Greek Orthodox church of Mari Girgis (St. George). Built on the ruins of an ancient church, it has a unique circular hall dating to the 13th century AD. http://www.touregypt.net/gstgeorge.htm Correction: The adjacent monastery of St George belongs to the Patriarchate of Alexandria, but is not the seat of the Patriarch of Alexandria. His seat is at Alexandria.

5.Visit the Virgin's Tree at Zeitoun. According to a tradition, this is the tree where the Virgin rested with the Child Jesus when they came to Egypt.

1 more image

This old cairo is an area where you can visit some old churches and old christian settlement thousands of years ago and here is where history witness some wars. Its all about history....