Coptic Cairo, Cairo

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A greek orthodox church, the Orthodox Church of St. George is the only round church in Egypt. Originally built during the 10th century, the present church standing is actually built in 1904.

The entrance of the complex is through a gate along the main road and you will have to ascend a long wide flight of stairs going to the inside of the church. St. George is a popular warrior saint. The church is the seat of the Greek Patriarch of Alexandria. The interior and dome of the church is impressive albeit dark.

Adjoining the Monastery of St. George, the round church is few steps (and hugely visible) from the Mar Girgis Metro station.

Entry is free.

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Housing the world's most important collection of coptic, the Coptic Museum is a must see for people who are interested in the subject of coptic antiquities.

The security is stringent, you have to pass an xray machine for your stuff and yourself. You are not allowed to bring in a camera inside the museum, though you can take pictures outside of the museum but not inside. There are a lot of cctv cameras so be aware of that.

There are a lot of stonework right after the main entrance, reminds me of those stonework I've seen in a museum in Konya (Turkey). There are valuable manuscripts - leather bound papyrus codices written in coptic languages, old textiles, metalworks, nice stone archways, and so much more. Huge collection of about 15,000 artefacts.

The entrance fee though is a bit costly at EGP50.

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Coptic Cairo has a lot of sights to enumerate but let me give an overview and how to get there.

After doing the Pyramid complex tour on my own, yeah I was really tired and want to retire to bed but it was still early in the afternoon, so I took a shower and decided to roam around. I took the metro Line 1 (Line 2 was the one I took in the morning to Giza station) at the nearby Sadat Station and got off at the 4th metro station called Mar Girgis station. Right when you emerged on the ground level, you'll be immediately greeted by those coptic structures. The Babylon Fortress, the hanging church, the greek church of st. george, the coptic museum -- all beside each other.

One thing I've noticed in the area is the serenity, I felt this peaceful feeling in the area, it was calm, it was quite different from the other tourist areas in the central Cairo, not too much people are there since I came late in the afternoon, just a couple of tourists. Even the people on the souvenir shops and several restarants are calm and not persistents, only one shop owner approached me and said that I can visit his shop, and if I see something I want - buy, otherwise just have a cup of tea. I thought -- that was so nice and civil. His kids approached me and just want me to take their pics and they were so shy but charming.

There's a presence of military troup just near the cemetary area (wearing white uniforms), and when I was about to tke a pic, one passersby said don't take pics of the militaries, it's not allowed, and I said, no, I was just taking the pic of the cemetery, and the guy smiled back at me.

Surprisingly, this area is quite different, the atmosphere is calm, people don't look at you much, shops aren't annoying, restaurants are friendly, in fact people there are genuinely friendly -- am I in Cairo? Like seriously, because when I came back to my hotel, the ambience in the surroundings changed and coptic Cairo is just 4 metro stations away from Tahrir.

Coptic Cairo is a small area where so many sights - churches, cemeteries, convent, museum, synagogue are squeezed in a clean, quiet and friendly district.

It's quite interesting really. In fact I was amused by this area.

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The Churge of St. George is a complex that includes both a church and a monastery, next beside the Babylon Fortress. You won't miss it, it's a huge round church (the only one in Egypt), few steps from the Mar Girgis Metro Station.

The church is built on top of an existing roman tower. Founded during the 10th century.

Its open from 9am - 4pm, and just like most attractions around the coptic area --- entry is Free!

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What remain of the Babylon Fortress is that round structure right beside the Mar Girgis Metro Station. Just beside the entrance gate to the Coptic Museum. The fortress is the city's oldest original structure and where some of the oldest coptic churches were built on its walls.

According to history, Babylon is the name of the capital of Egypt's neighboring country -- I was thinkin' bout Babylon in Iraq, I may be wrong, as the first fort was built by the Persians (present day Iran). I dunno really. Due to water difficulty, the fort was relocated byt the then roman emperor Trajan at its present location which used to be only bwside the Nile river.

The fortress is still impressive today, though at first sight I thought it was just an ordinary abandoned building of sort, until I've found out the story, and like in a film, the structure slowly developed into full colour on me.

Go there afternoon until just before the sun set, the whole area has this rustic feeling -- sumthin' bout the sun streaks on the old structures...really.

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The internal decor of the hanging church is striking, so many details so little space. Not that it's small but every square meter of walls and ceilings are intricately designed. Right int eh middle is an 11th century pulpit made of marble, and every arches on top are impressive.

There are altars on the walls encasing some personal relics and clothing belonging to former bishops or saints on display.

Located in Old Cairo, centre of the city's pre-Islamic Christian history. The Coptic Museum tells the story of how the Christian period provided a link between ancient and modern Egypt. Among the masterpieces are fourth to eighth century icons, textiles and frescoes.

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Egypt was one of the first countries to embrace Christianity, which became an official religion in 4th century A.D. Egyptian Christians are known as Copts, hence, the name Coptic Cairo for the area where they first settled. Coptic Cairo is uncharacteristically tranquil and quite a pleasant area to walk around.

Very little, however, remains of the original settlement as the annual inundation of the Nile had destroyed most of the original structures. What visitors see now are mostly reproductions or restorations. There are so many points of interest within Coptic Cairo. my favorites from which are:

1) The Hanging Church - built in 9th century A.D. on top of the Water Gate of Roman Babylon (hence, the name) in honor of the Virgin Mary. I love the light filtering through the windows above over the church's colorful interiors - very solemn. Its 13 columns are said to represent Christ and the 12 disciples with the darker one symbolizing Judas.

2) Church of St George - built in honor of the Mar Girgis (St George), its colorful stained glass is beautiful. The original church was built in the 10th century, but had to be rebuilt several times following several fires. Look for the image of St George housed in some special enclave to your left when you enter the church.

3) Coptic Museum - this offers an excellent glimpse into the Coptic Christian culture featuring architecture, religious art, textiles and garments and literature. The exhibits are well laid out and professionally labeled. One drawback are the rude tourist police at the entrance who treat every camera-toting tourist with intense suspicion.

4) Greek Orthodox Cemetery - peaceful and serene (pun not intended), the shady trees provide respite from the scorching sun, while you read epitaphs and take snaps of interesting tombs and mausoleums.