Coptic Cairo Tour: Cave Church of Saint Simon and Old Cairo churches
Description
Visit El Mokattam Mountain Cave Church, or the Monastery of St Simon, on a private tour that also explores the magnificent churches of Coptic Cairo. You’ll see some of Cairo’s most important Christian sites, including the Saints Sergius and Bacchus Church, the Church of Saint Barbara, and the Hanging Church, while going beyond sightseeing for a glimpse of ‘garbage city,’ a fascinating Cairo neighborhood that most visitors overlook entirely.
Tour Options
Itinerary
As Per Requested time Pick up from the Hotel by Your guide to Start your Half day tour to Old Cairo that Also known as Coptic Cairo which is mean Christian Cairo it has been Recognized as a holy place because some of the locations there has been visited by the Holy Family where the spiritual impact of their presence is most felt still; though their stay was brief, for the Governor of what was then Fustat enraged by the tumbling down of idols at Jesus’ approach sought to kill the Child. But they took shelter from his wrath in a cave above which, in later years, the Church of Abu Serga (St Sergius) was built. This and the whole area of the Fort of Babylon is a destination of pilgrimage not only for the Egyptians but for Christians from around the world. An air of piety and devotion pervades the whole district there.
Saint Barbara Coptic known in the Eastern Orthodox Church as the Great Martyr Barbara, was an early Christian Lebanese and Greek saint and martyr. Accounts place her in the 3rd century in Heliopolis Phoenicia, present-day Baalbek, Lebanon. There is no reference to her in the authentic early Christian writings nor in the original recension of Saint Jerome's martyrology
The Hanging Church is named for its location above a gatehouse of Babylon Fortress, the Roman fortress in Coptic Cairo (Old Cairo); its nave is suspended over a passage.[2] The church is approached by twenty-nine steps; early travelers to Cairo dubbed it "the Staircase Church".[2] The land surface has risen by some six metres since the Roman period, so the Roman tower is mostly buried below ground, reducing the visual impact of the church's elevated position
his was the synagogue whose geniza or store room was found in the 19th century to contain a treasure of forgotten, stored-away Hebrew, Aramaic and Judeo-Arabic secular and sacred manuscripts. The collection, known as the Cairo Geniza, was brought to the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England at the instigation of Solomon Schechter. It is now divided between several academic libraries, with the majority being kept at the Cambridge University Library.
s the Coptic Orthodox saint associated with the story of the moving the Mokattam Mountain in Cairo, Egypt, during the rule of the Muslim Fatimid Caliph al-Muizz Lideenillah (953–975) while Abraham the Syrian was the Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
As per confirmed pickup time you will find our tour guide waiting for you and he will hold a sign showing our company name
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Public transportation options are available nearby
- Specialized infant seats are available
- Not recommended for travelers with spinal injuries
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Not recommended for travelers with poor cardiovascular health
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Reviews(197)
Our guide Wagih was a very good guide. I enjoyed everthing about the tour. The information provided was the perfect amount of information. We went on a Saturday and it turns out that was the best time to go. I would highly recommend this tour to anyone who has an interest in the Coptic Churches.
Sahar was a great tour guide. She was very knowledgeable and I learned a lot. She was very helpful and patient throughout the tour. Yasser Salah was a great driver. The pickup was right on time and the car was very clean. I highly recommend Emo Tours and will definitely book again if return to Egypt.
I had an amazing visit of important cooptic places. The guide was great, explaining very well and shared his experience. I felt very lucky because not all guides are like that. He loves his job and shares the best he knows. I felt safe and welcomed. It made it very enjoyable, like living the history as we were in the past centuries. The driver was also very patient and I could safely leave my bag in the car while visiting the places. I highly recommand this trip.
Beautiful churches to be seen here, the craftsmanship in the stone is exceptional, the only fault I had was that my tour guides English was not that great was a little hard to understand her but she was a lovely lady and very comfortable to be with 🙂
It was wonderful! I enjoyed spending time with my driver and tour guide. I loved that I did a private tour and got to see the top things on my list.
Overall, it was a good experience. I already knew most of the places from a previous visit to Egypt except for the cave of San Simón. I could not visit that cave because the guide informed me, too late, that the cave was closed due to an official event. Total disappointment due to this point. Will they return half of what the tour cost me? Final result, I did not get to see that cave and I will never see it again since I will not return to Egypt.
Had an overall amazing experience highly recommend.
I'm an experienced world traveler so this isn't my first rodeo. Sleeping in tents and taking cold showers is nothing new to me so my opinions are based on my experience. My tour guide was Karma and my driver was Muhammed. Doing the tour with them was like visiting family. She would explain the historical significance of an area and I was able to ask questions and move along at a casual pace because we weren't part of a large group. Visiting Egypt let me know that not only can Muslims, Jews and Christians live together, but so can people that have different shades of skin. This tour was educational, relaxing and fun for me. Just prepare yourself for Egyptian traffic. The road leading to the Coptic church would be a good challenge for any Jeep or Landrover.
It was a great experience and very informative- our guide was excellent with so much info
The tour is fine but the guide although friendly has a fairly basic knowledge, gives very little data and sometimes wrong. The agency does not answer and communicating with them is very difficult, I did 2 tours with them and in both I had trouble communicating with them.
