The settlement of the area around Cairo did not take place from the current city center. The first embryo of what would become the modern part of the city is equivalent to the current southern shore of the city, known as Old Cairo.
More than two centuries ago this was the mouth of an ancient canal between the Nile and the Red Sea, a strategic position that proved decisive for the development of the first settlements in the surrounding area.
The course of the river has changed, now several hundred meters further west, but the original stretch is still marked by sites of historical significance, many of which date back to the Greco-Roman period when Egypt was converted to Christianity.
Archaeological evidence reveals that settlements in the area began shortly before the 6th century AD. Around 525 A.D. the fortress of Babylon was built on the edge of the canal, which marked the border between Upper and Lower Egypt.
Later the Romans built a larger fortress on the same site, which served as a support for the construction of other sites present today. The thick wall of the Roman fortress, streaked with white and red for the color of its bricks, is still visible from the exit of the subway from the Mar Girgis station, or along the road of the same name in Coptic Cairo.
The fortress was besieged by the invading Muslim army led by Amr Ibn Al Aas, during the battle that marked the Muslim conquest of Egypt.
Today the ancient part of Cairo is teeming with buildings dating back to the Christian era and Muslim heritage. Two of the most recent sites from the Islamic period are located here – the Ibn Al Aas mosque, the first mosque on the African continent, and the Nilometro, built on the island of Rhoda, dating back to early Muslim times in Egypt.
Coptic Cairo
Coptic Cairo is the only area of the city to have such a concentration of Christian churches and other sites dating back to the period between the decline of the Pharaonic religion and the advent of the Islamic religion when the country had a Christian majority. Coptic Cairo was built mainly around the fortress of Babylon above the remains of its walls.
Up here is the Coptic Museum, custodian of the largest collection of Coptic Christian testimonies in the world. Founded in 1910, the museum traces the history of the Coptic Christian religion from the advent of Christianity until the Ottoman era, and exhibits a large collection of Egyptian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman finds.
There are also six churches dating back to the early Christian era. The Suspended Church, or Church of the Virgin Mary, was built in the 9th century on top of the walls of the Fort of Babylon. The effect of this “suspension” is now significantly diminished by the growth of the ground level around the walls.
Within Coptic Cairo are numerous churches, including St. Sergius’ Church, which dates back to the 5th century and was probably built on a crypt where the Holy Family (Jesus, Joseph, and Mary) found refuge in Egypt.
Beyond the church is the synagogue of Ben Ezra, the oldest synagogue in all of Cairo, founded in the 9th century and supposedly also the original site of the ancient temple of Jeremiah or the site where Pharaoh’s daughter found Moses.
