Coptic Cairo

On Friday, the gang and I decided to go to Coptic Cairo. We had an uneventful walk to the Metro Station and then an uneventful ride on the Metro to Coptic Cairo. Just before getting out of the train, I heard someone's phone ring- the ringtone was 'Yeah!' by User featuring Lil Jon and Ludacris. I found it funny, if not sad.

Coptic Cairo is one of the centers of Christianity in Egypt. The Copts are an Egyptian sect of Christianity that has roots all the way back into the First Century AD with the founder being Mark of Bible-fame. He went to Alexandria and from there Christianity spread throughout Egypt and then throughout Africa, thus Mark is considered to have introduced Christianity to Africa.

Coptic Cairo is also apart of the oldest section of the city, conveniently called Old Cairo. Modern day Cairo is the product of four old cities. The first of which was called 'al-Fustat', built in 642AD. At the time, it was a fortress city that overlooked the Nile. Over time, other cities were built near by to serve different purposes and eventually they were all combined into one, but al-Fustat is what Old Cairo is today.

Our travel books told us that to get into the Coptic Museum, we must find the ruins of the Roman towers. The Romans had built up a fortress in the city of Babylon (not the Babylon) which was right on the delta of the Nile. These are the remains:

We then went into the Coptic Museum...

...where we then had our cameras taken from us by security. The museum contains the largest collection of Egyptian Christian artifacts in the world, while also the most important examples of Coptic art..according to Wikipedia. What I find amusing from the Wikipedia article is that it appears whoever wrote the article was not allowed to bring in cameras either, thus I have the same picture that Wikipedia has.

The woodwork of the museum was amazing, alone. Too bad I could not take a picture to show everyone. The museum had an amazing collection of fragments of old stone artwork that was apart of buildings (I am sure there is a term for this)- most of which dated back to the 5th and 6th Centuries AD. There were thousand-year-old Bibles in Arabic, Copt, and Greek. Old paintings of Jesus, Mary, and a number of Saints. It had what you would expect it to have (I don't mean that in a negative way, either).

After the museum, we walked over to the Hanging Church. It is built over a gatehouse from the Roman fortress, giving it its name. Although the street level has risen significantly since the 3rd Century AD, reducing the awe of its height. It is the most famous Coptic Church in Cairo, presumably because of its height.

Those columns on the left represent the twelve disciples- the black one (in the opening) is for Judas:

As nice as all of that is, when you first walk in, you must go through an even nicer gift shop.

Yes, that is Strawberry Shortcake. No, I do not know why.

I was incredibly confused by this, at first. Why was this in the giftshop?

This was my favorite. Also, notice the icon-calculator in the background (it is a video).

After the Hanging Church, we went to the Greek Church of St. George.

Must be this St. George fellow that is slaying the dragon

Confirmed.

Outside of St George's:

After St. George's we walked through a very old part of the district and to the Coptic Church of St. Barbara. It is another old Coptic church dating back to the 5th/6th Centuries.

According to legend (and the sign), when Joseph, Mary, and Jesus fled to Egypt, they stayed in this area.

Very narrow streets.

After St. George's we left Coptic Cairo and went to the Mosque of Amr ibn al-As, just outside of the district, but still apart of Old Cairo.

I am guessing this a mausoleum.. it was on the way out of Coptic Cairo:

When the Arabs would go on their conquests, where ever they would set up camp, the commander would lay out his tent and then everyone would set their tents around him. The commander's tent was also used as a mosque for the army. So, the Mosque of Amr is thought to be built on the site where the Arab commander laid his tent when they first conquered and settled al-Fustat (Cairo). This makes the Mosque of Amr ibn al-As not only the first mosque in Egypt, but also the first mosque in Africa. However, it has been rebuilt and renovated so many times that it does not resemble its original form.



This is the mosque's 'mihrab'- it is the gathering point for the prayers. This is generally decorated very elaborately. It is on the 'qiblah' which is the wall of the mosque that faces the direction of Mecca.

We did not get to see everything in Coptic Cairo, a lot of it closed before we had a chance to see it. We will return.