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Published: July 11th 2012
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The Hidden Church of St. Sergius
You wouldn't know this was a church from the outside. Christians in Egypt have always kept a low profile. This is where the Holy Family found shelter. Had the pleasant surprise of meeting up with Ahmed while I was finishing my breakfast at the hotel (which is a hearty falafel meal with bean paste and bread pitas). We set off around 9ish for our first stop: Coptic Cairo. This is down the Nile from where I'm at in Garden City (where all of the embassies are) and is home to the old Christian churches of Cairo. People don't often realize it, but a lot of Egyptians are Christian; after all, this is where Jesus and the Holy Family fled to during Herod's Massacre of the Innocents, and where Moses was found in the reeds. In fact, the beautiful Church of St. Sergius is built over the cave said to have given shelter to the Holy Family while in Egypt. And the Ben Ezra Synagogue is supposedly where Moses was found among the reeds by the pharoah's daughter. I really enjoyed Coptic Cairo. It's walled in, and so is extremely calm and quiet, and you almost feel lost in time.
The nice thing about being friends with a local who's also your driver is that they know the best places to go. Ahmed took a detour up a
mountain that overlooks the city for a true panoramic view. Beautiful, but shocking to look down pretty much on all of the smog. Next went to the Citadel, which is the giant fortress that overlooks the city, and was home to most of the Muslim rulers over the centuries (including Saladin, who built it up in expectation of the Christian Crusaders). It contains the absolutely massive Mosque of Mohammed Ali (not the boxer, I asked, hah-hah!) which was quarried from the pyramid stones.
The last mosque of the day was the Sultan Hassan Mosque-Madrassa, another massive place, and actually one of the places Obama went when he visited Cairo in 2009. There's a great photo of Obama staring up at the Sphinx. The rest of the day was split first between the madness of Khan al-Khalili market, a wild, exotic place full of every imaginable spice and shop. But the true highlight was the Egyptian Museum - the absolute best collection of Egyptian artifacts in the world. The museum is right at Tahrir Square. The Tut treasures are here, the mummies of the great pharoahs, beautiful statues, you name it... the great finds of ancient Egypt all came here.
Famous Hanging Church
"Hanging" because it was built over a Roman water house. Frustrating, though, because the government is extremely paranoid at the moment, and didn't let anyone take photos inside the museum. I actually had to store my camera before being let it. From the museum walked down the Nile to my hotel.
Got a wild hair and a great price from Ahmed, who is going to take me bright and early tomorrow to Alexandria, a city I had not planned on visiting. But I'm pretty much done here in Cairo, and Alexandria is one of the great cities of the world. Should be fun.
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