For several centuries following the decline of the old Pharaonic religions and before the arrival of Islam, Egypt was mainly a Christian country. At those times Alexandria was a capital of Egypt and it was only a Roman fortress of Babylon beside the Nile instead of Cairo. Till nowadays this part of Cairo is known as Coptic Cairo…
There were plenty to see in that corner of the city. Quiet lanes, ancient holy places, nice little churches. The underground station called "Mar Girgis" and I didn’t realised at first, that this name is – Arabic for St.George. And just opposite of the entrance of the station – the church of St.George
The legend said that Mar Girgis was a roman legionary, who has been martyred for his beliefs. And it happened well before the crusaders...Well, despite of the historically ancient location, the church itself is relatively new, something as beginning of 20 century. Although its said to be built on the site of the original of the 10th century…
I was curious to see it here. As to me it looked a little bit "out of context" with Cairo, always associated with Islam. Coptic Christianity is not exactly the Orthodox – they split somewhere in AD 450. But as I’ve seen quite a few Orthodox churches before, the ones of Cairo didn’t impress me much. Or, shall I say: I expected to see what I saw there, so there was no charm of novelty for me…
This is another famous church of Coptic Cairo – The Virgin Mary.
Again – another recent addition in place of the oldest side – they say the original church dated back to 4th century. This one called "Hanging church" because it was built on top of the old Water Gate of the roman fortress of Babylon.
Well, there were few other places in that area that we’ve seen (like the Church of St.Sergius, where it is believed that the Holy Family took a shelter in a cave during their fled to Egypt; or a Convent of St.George, where nuns still live). The conclusion: Old (or Coptic) Cairo is interesting enough to make it a "must see" destination, although because the churches are relatively new build, it feels like somewhat "second best" site in the country where there are millions of "first best" not to miss…
It would’ve been unfair to say about Christianity and not to tell about Islam. (Especially, when Copts are only 10% of Egyptian population, the rest are - Muslims. The first mosque I’ve ever entered was the Mohammed Ali’s Mosque in Citadel. It is considered being somewhat a symbol of Cairo. The other name of it – the Alabaster Mosque.
Despite of the common belief that non-Muslims cannot enter the mosques, or that women cannot do it, we did get inside…(yes, we did took our shoes off and I did cover my head with a scarf, though we’ve seen lots of women with head uncovered – I supposed mainly because of the Mosque being somewhat a tourist’s pilgrimage place)…
We sat on a carpeted floor for a while…watching people come and go…groups of tourists sitting down around their guides listening to the stories…it happened a time for a prayer while we were inside and we witnessed a very special dialog between faithful people and the One who gives them reason to live…
I must admit, I liked the atmosphere in the Mosque. It was very…unrestrained…(?) you just come there to sit in inviting coolness...and nobody’ s imposing on your space, nobody attempts to intervene your thoughts…In fact, nobody has been paying any attention to us at all :-). This is the photograph taken inside of the Alabaster Mosque (and you can see why it has got her name – just look at those gorgeous columns!)
Another little mosque we’ve been in – the Suleiman Pasha Mosque. It was very small but charming. Dating back to 1500 something, in ottoman style, it has a pretty tiny courtyard and beautifully painted interior, which is completely restored and looks stunning:
It was not possible to see all the famous churches, mosques and synagogues (yes, they have them too there – like Ben Ezra Synagogue – place linked to Moses)And it would’ve taken at least few days to do so. And of course we didn’t have that luxury. When I’m back, those "missing bits" are already on my list to visit.