Coptic Cairo is the oldest part of the city, a quiet walled quarter in Old Cairo where some of Egypt’s oldest churches, a historic synagogue and the first mosque in Africa stand within a few minutes’ walk of each other. It grew up inside the Roman fortress of Babylon, centuries before Cairo itself was founded.
What to see
The Hanging Church is built above the gatehouse of the Roman fortress, and its two Roman towers still stand beside the Coptic Museum. The Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, Abu Serga, is built over a crypt where, by tradition, the Holy Family rested during their flight into Egypt. The Ben Ezra Synagogue is where the famous Cairo Geniza documents were found. The Coptic Museum has the world’s largest collection of Coptic Christian art: textiles, icons, carved wood and manuscripts. Just to the north is the Mosque of Amr ibn al-As, founded in 641 AD.
The Copts
Copts are Egypt’s Christians, about a tenth of the population. Their church traces its origins to Saint Mark, who brought Christianity to Alexandria in the 1st century. The Coptic language, still used in church services, is the last stage of the ancient Egyptian language, written in Greek letters.
Visiting
Allow two to three hours. Dress modestly and remember that services may be going on in the churches, especially on Fridays and Sundays. Coptic Cairo is part of our Old Cairo Cairo day tours and our spiritual tours, often combined with the royal mummies at the nearby National Museum of Egyptian Civilization.
