2006.05.29_Hanging Church

Probably the most beautiful and famous church in Coptic Cairo, the Hanging Church is also one of the oldest. Although much of what we see today of the church's exterior is from the 19th century, many of the interior elements, including over 100 of Christian icons, actually date back to various periods in history. The church was built above a gatehouse of Babylon Fortress, the ancient fortress city in Cairo.

After Coptic Cairo, we spent much of the afternoon at the Egyptian Museum. The museum is huge and filled with treasures from ancient Egypt. The exhibition spaces seem disorganized, though the artifact collection on ancient Egypt, such as the papyrus, stone statues, jewelery, and many funeral items are truly magnificent. The most impressive of all are undoubtedly the collections of royal mummies (famous pharaohs such as Ramses II) and the tomb treasures of King Tutankhamen.

We left the museum at around 17:30. We strolled around a number of gift shops and ended up approaching the riverbank of the Nile. We saw a few felucca captains were cleaning their boats along the dock. We didn't have the interest to hire a felucca. Instead, we headed to Cafe Niche for something to eat. Back at Luna, HC and AK rested a while before hopping onto the taxi heading to the train station. They were off for their journey to Upper Egypt. For me, I would have another day in Cairo before embarking my trip to the Western Desert and Siwa Oasis on my own.

2006.05.29_Coptic Quarter

We took the metro to the Coptic Quarter of Cairo, where most of the Coptic Orthodox churches are located in the Egyptian capital. Egyptian Coptic is an ancient language dated back to the time of Christ. As Islam and the language of Arabic entered Egypt in the 7th century, the significance of the Coptic language declined. Coptic Orthodox Christianity, on the other hand, continues to evolve and exist as the main stream Christianity in Egypt, ever since St. Mark found the Church of Alexandria in the 1st Century. Along with Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic, the Church of Alexandria (Coptic Church) is considered to be one of the earliest Christian churches. It is also believed that many practices of early Christians had been preserved by the Coptic Church to the modern times.

We toured the St George Church, a Jewish Temple, and the Church of Abu Serga, where it was claimed that the Holy family had once rested when Joseph, Mary and Christ arrived in Egypt. We also toured the Coptic Cemetery in the area. Every tomb in the Coptic Cemetery is like a small shrine on its own.