Coptic Cairo

After a lunch of a local dish that consisted of noodles, red sauce, beans and rice (sounds weird but it was pretty good) we headed to an area called Coptic Cairo. Coptic refers to the pre-Arab invasion period (so pre-642 AD) when all the Egyptians were Christian, and is a square mile or so area where there are 13 churches (one has been converted into a synogague). The most famous is the Hanging Church, which is a church built in between two others and doesn’t have a foundation. Unfortunately, it was closed for renovation the day we went so I wasn’t able to see it – and I still can’t really picture what a hanging church would look like. Maybe next time. In lieu of the hanging church, our guide took us to the oldest Catholic church in Cairo. It was small and hot and worn down, but is still considered worthy of visitors because of its previous inhabitants. The story goes that when Mary and Joseph fled Nazareth (is that right? I spent about 20 of my 25 years in Catholic school and I don’t even know from where Mary and Joseph fled) to get away from King Harod they came to Egypt and moved from spot to spot for about three years. One of the places they hid was the crypt of this church, so if it’s true, I can say I’ve been to a place where the holy family lived. I asked our tour guide why so many churches were built in the area, and she couldn’t give me a good answer, so I’m still not sure why anyone thought it was necessary to build 13 churches practically on top of each other.