Day 179 - A Guided Tour of Old Cairo

Saturday, December 29, 2018.
Today we woke up early because we hired a local guide to show us some sites. We decided to start in Coptic Cairo since it was near our apartment. This is also called Religions Community because of all the churches, a synagogue and a mosque all close to each other.

We met our guide, Mo, outside the oldest mosque in Cairo, the Amr ibn Al As. He explained that up until the 1950s, people of different religions use to live in peace together here in Egypt! What happened? I wonder. Mo studied Egyptology and was very passionate and knowledgeable about every building, history, religion and anything we asked him about. We started the visit with the hanging church which we had seen before but this time with an explanation.

We proceeded to see St George's basilica, then Ben Ezra synagogue before finishing in the mosque. Mo pointed out the similarities in decoration in all 3 buildings. 

 After that, we went back to Khan Al Khalili where we visited Al Moez, a street of mosques and public works dated from the Mameluk and Ottoman era. The square with the touristy restaurants was absolutely packed with locals, here to celebrate the Prophet's birthday, peace be upon him. We stopped in front of Abu Mazen cafe again and called Uber. This time, we made sure of the destination before walking out to the street!


Waiting for our guide

The Hanging Church





The Roman fortress


St. George's. Actually, Gregory's name translates to George in Arabic!



Plaques thanking St. George for granting wishes






Note the all-seeing eye, adopted by the Orthodox Church from ancient Egyptian culture, brought back to Egypt.


Pyramid-shaped halo and stars that look just like the stars in ancient Egyptian temples and tombs

According to legend, Joseph and Mary along with an infant Jesus hid in a cave in the crypt of this church.

We stopped here for tea and had to take this awesome picture of men playing dominos




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