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Statue of Jesus in a Coptic church

Old Cairo (Arabic, Masr al-Qadima) is the name given to the extensive district of southern Cairo from the southern boundary of Garden City down to the precinct commonly known as Coptic Cairo.

[edit] Understand

Old Cairo is the home of Cairo's Coptic Christian community. The Coptic Orthodox Church traces its founding to Saint Mark the Apostle in 42 AD, and is thus arguably the world's oldest Christian denomination. While the majority of Egyptians converted to Islam in the 12th century, the Church has survived through centuries of persecution, not only from hostile Muslim rulers such as the Fatimids, but also at the hands of the Crusaders, who viewed the Coptics as heretics. Today, Egypt has some 12 million Copts, but the narrow alleyways of Old Cairo still have the feel of an island set apart from the rest of the city.

Visitors are welcome to visit Coptic churches, even during services, which are now mostly held in Arabic. Note that Copts use the Julian calendar, so December falls on January 7th and Easter is celebrated 12 days behind the Gregorian dates.

[edit] Get in

[edit] By Metro

The Metro train represents by far the easiest mode of travel into this district, Mar Girgis station being located immediately outside the Coptic Cairo quarter. From Midan Tahrir in central Cairo, take the Metro south to Mar Girgis - the fare costs 1 LE and trains run every few minutes.

[edit] See

[edit] Coptic Cairo

• Roman Fortress Towers of Babylon
• Hanging Church (Kineeset al-Muallaqa), Sharia Mar Girgis, admission free
• Coptic Museum [1], Sharia Mar Girgis, tel 02 2363 9742, open daily 9am-5pm, admission LE 30. Established in 1908, the Coptic Museum houses Coptic art and artefacts from Late Antiquity, from the late Roman empire through to the Islamic era and beyond. The presentation is poor, but the building itself is a treat, with elaborate wooden screens called mashrabiyya on the windows.
• Church and Monastery of St George
• Convent of St George
• Churches of St Sergius (Abu Serga) and St Barbara
• Ben Ezra Synagogue - Egypt's oldest surviving synagogue, dating to the 9th century and housed in a former church constructed in the 4th century

[edit] Roda Island

• Nilometer, at the southern tip of the island on Sharia el-Malek as-Salah. A large stone obelisk constructed in the 9th century to measure the height of the Nile flood.

[edit] Do

[edit] Eat

[edit] Drink

[edit] Sleep

[edit] Contact

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