Guided Tour of the Coptic Neighbourhood

Itinerary

Having picked you up at your hotel we make our way to Cairo's Coptic neighbourhood, where we'll learn all about the history of Christianity in Egypt and discover the difference between Coptic Catholics and Coptic Orthodox Christians. Both religious strands have their own temple, both of which we'll visit on our tour.

First we'll head to the church of Saint Maria the Virgin, better known as The Hanging Church of Cairo - constructed as it is above the old gates of the Babylon fortress. Inside the temple itself, we'll see different works of art and a variety of mosaics belonging to different historical periods.

Our tour continues with the Church of St. George, the orthodox church, and the church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus inside which legend states the holy family hid upon their flight from King Herod.

To complete our knowledge of the Coptic tradition in Cairo we'll visit the Cairo Coptic Museum, whose permanent exhibition houses a wide range of sacred and decorative objects: the most famous objects include the Nag Hammadi Manuscripts. This set of papyri are known as the "Gospel of Judas", documents which have caused no lack of controversy among Theologians over the years.

With the museum visit over, we'll fuel up with lunch in a traditional restaurant in the Coptic neighbourhood. The menu is composed of different specialities, including a main dish of meat and rice.

And having eaten we'll finally head back to the hotel.