About Coptic Cairo
Coptic Cairo is the only area of the city to have such a concentration of Christian churches and other sites dating back to the period between the decline of the Pharaonic religion and the advent of the Islamic faith, a time when the country had a Christian majority. Coptic Cairo was built predominantly around the Babylon fortress above the remains of its city wall.
Places to see in the Coptic Quarter of Cairo.
Here you can find the Coptic Museum, the custodian of the most extensive collection of co-opted Christian testimonies worldwide. Founded in 1910, the museum traces the history of the co-opted Christian religion from the advent of Christianity to the Ottoman era.
It exhibits a vast collection of Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman artifacts. Six churches date back to the early Christian age. The Hanging Church, or Church of the Virgin Mary, was built in the 9th century on top of the walls of the Babylon fort. The effect of this “suspension” has now significantly decreased due to the increased ground level around the walls.
Inside Coptic Cairo, there are numerous churches, including that of St. Sergius church, which dates back to the 5th century and was probably built on a crypt where the Holy Family (Jesus, Joseph, and Mary) found refuge in Egypt.
Beyond the church is the Ben Ezra synagogue, the oldest in all of Cairo, founded in the 9th century and is also supposed to have been the original site of the ancient temple of Jeremiah or the site where the daughter of Pharaoh found Moses.
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