Christian shrines of Egypt

Egypt, along with Israel, is one of the most important places for world Christianity. For 3 years, the Holy Family and the baby Jesus have found refuge from the persecution of King Herod in this country. One of the most important places of pilgrimage is Coptic Cairo, where, through centuries of persecution, it was possible to preserve the memory of several years of Jesus’ life, as well as to carry the traditions of Christianity to the present day.

So in Coptic Cairo is one of the holy places for Christians around the world, the church of Abu Serga, where the grotto is located in which the Holy Family was sheltered when it fled from the pursuit of King Herod.

The church of al-Moallaka, which in Arabic means “suspended”. The church is one of the oldest Christian temples in Egypt. Its history dates back to the third century AD.

The church has more than 100 icons, the oldest of which date back to the VIII century. The temple also contains the relics of several saints.

Nearby there is an Orthodox church and a monastery in the name of the Great Martyr George the Victorious, where there are miraculous icons of the same name and a nilometer.

Copts are representatives of one of the oldest branches of Christianity, which has roots in the middle of the first century.

According to legend, Christian teaching was brought to Egypt by the Apostle Mark, the author of one of the four Gospels. Today, no more than 7-8 percent of Copts (about 6 million people) remain in the country.

Next to the Christian temples is the Ben Ezra Synagogue. It was originally a Christian church that Coptic Christians were forced to sell to Jews in 882 in order to pay the annual taxes imposed by Muslim rulers of the time. The church was bought by Abraham Ben Ezra, who came from Jerusalem to Egypt during the reign of Ahmed ibn Tulun for 20,000 dinars.

At one time, the synagogue became a place of pilgrimage for Jews from North Africa and a place to celebrate major holidays.

In the courtyard of the synagogue there is a well, which, according to legend, is located on the very place where the daughter of Pharaoh found the baby Moses.

Egypt became home to immigrants from Russia during the 1917 revolution. The Russian community not only chose the Greek Orthodox church located on the territory of Coptic Cairo, which then became the center of the religious community of Orthodoxy, but its cemetery became the last refuge for many White emigrants.