- May 4, 2020
- 8 min read

Coptic Cairo

The original urban settlement of Cairo, dating back to 969 AD, is now located in Misr al-Qadima, known as Old Cairo. Currently, this area also houses the Coptic district. Dating back to Roman domination in Egypt between the 4th and 7th centuries, an ancient Roman fortification.

Until the beginning of the Islamic era in Egypt, Coptic Cairo was a real stronghold for Christianity in Egypt, despite this, most of the buildings and churches currently visible were built after the conquest of Egypt by Muslims.

Coptic Cairo comprises the Roman Fortress of Babylon, the Coptic Museum, the Hanging Church, the Greek Church of St. George and historical sites and many other Coptic churches which makes it one of the richest historical sites and things to do in Cairo. It is believed in the Christian tradition that the Holy Family visited this area and stayed at the site of Saints Sergius and Bacchus Church (Abu Serga) that’s why people thinking their Cairo Day Tours sure this section of Old Cairo is seen. Coptic Cairo was a center for Christianity in Egypt till the Islamic era, though most of the contemporary buildings of the churches in Coptic Cairo were built after the Muslim conquest of Egypt in the 7th century.

When Persians constructed a fort on the Nile located in the north of Memphis. that is proof of compensation in the area as early as the 6th century BC. The Persians also built a canal from the Red Sea to the Nile (at Fustat). The Persian hamlet was called Babylon, evocative of the ancient city along the Euphrates, and it won importance while the nearby city of Memphis weakened, as did Heliopolis. Babylon and its people were mostly forgotten throughout the Ptolemaic period.

It is traditionally held that the Holy Family toured the area throughout the Flight into Egypt, asking refuge from Herod. Moreover, it is held that Christianity started to spread in Egypt when St. Mark arrived in Alexandria land, becoming the first Patriarch, though the religion remained hidden during the rule of the Romans. As the local population started to organize towards a revolution, the Romans, recognizing the importance of the strategic region, took over the fortress and relocated it nearby as the Babylon Fortress. Trajan reestablished the canal to the Red Sea, causing elevated trade, though Egypt remained a backwater as far as the Romans were concerned.

Enjoy a full Coptic Cairo tour when you plan any tours to Egypt or from our varieties of tours from Cairo.

Under the Romans, St. Mark and his followers powerful were able to turn an abundant division of the population, from atheistic faiths to Christianity. As the Christian communities in Egypt grew more and more, they were constrained to exile by the Romans, under Emperor Diocletian around 300 AD, and the abuse continued following the Edict of Milan that proclaimed religious toleration. The Coptic Church later isolated from the church of the Romans and the Byzantines. Following the rule of Arcadius (395-408), a number of churches were established in Old Cairo. In the early years of Arab rule, the Copts were permitted to build several churches within the old fortress area of Old Cairo.

In Coptic Cairo, in 1115 years The Ben Ezra Synagogue was established, in what was previously a Coptic church that was built in the 8th century. The Copts needed to sell it, in order to raise funds to pay taxes to Ibn Tulun.

Coptic Cairo hosted the Seat of the Coptic Orthodox Pope of Alexandria in the 11th Century AD, which is historically located in Alexandria. As the law authorities moved from Alexandria to Cairo after the Arab invasion of Egypt throughout Pope Christodolos’s tenure, Cairo displayed the fixed and real residence of the Coptic Pope in Coptic Cairo in 1047 at the Hanging Church.

Coptic Cairo

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