Amateur Adventures #30: Crazy Cairo Part 1: The Coptic Precinct and...

Hello lovely Steemians

We are fast approaching the end of our time in Egypt, but it would be remiss of me not sharing our experiences of Cairo, where we started and ended our Egyptian Adventure.

From the airport, to visiting the Coptic precinct, to the original pyramids at Memphis and Saqqara and finally the Pyramids at Giza and the famous Sphinx - Cairo was a world-wind of craziness

Enjoy!

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines, sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

Cairo is a city that seems to try hard to make a good first impression on tourists, at leat those coming by air. Exiting the shiny new airport, the first suburb you arrive at is where the “rich” live. Palaces, converted to museums, sprawling well lit gardens, home to many government employees, ex-home to ex-president Mubarak. Impressive and modern. Not the city of antiquities that most come to see.

Driving through Cairo at night is overwhelming. Next to its shining brightness, the cities and monuments of the previous two weeks spent in Morocco, appear a poor cousin (though not without their charm and uniqueness). Enormous mosques with their domes and towering minarets reach to the sky, lit up like beacons pointing the way to Mecca. This city of lights gives the night sky a never ending dusk-like quality.

Driving to our hotel, traffic, though busy, is not crazy in the sense of Asian city traffic. In fact I conclude that despite what I’d been led to believe, it would be quite easy to drive Cairo – being that one is mostly just sitting in traffic and not actually doing much driving. After an hour and a half trip of what I suspect was only a few kilometres we arrived at our home for the next few days, before starting our Gecko’s tour. King Hotel in Giza City, pretty central to major attractions such as the Egyptian Museum.

We were overly excited to hear the rooftop restaurant and bar was opened til 1am… It’s 10.30 and lunch was non existent – dinner was airline food. The view from this bar is fantastic. Stretches across the city in all directions, selection of tapas, wines, beers and cocktails and best yet… 10 flavours of Sheesha @ 7 Egyptian pounds or about $1.

Dinner and drinks end up costing about $7 for both of us. Surprisingly cheaper than Morocco has been. Good cheap food, good wine, great view – the best way to end a very long day of travel.

…Sun streams into our room and wakes me in a panic that we’ve slept away our first full day in Egypt. It’s 5am…or as I was still on Moroccan time, 3am. I check the time on my iPhone just in case my watch is being hinky! Nope it’s crack of dawn, though the sky would indicate otherwise.

And in the light of day, the glitter of the previous night fades away. Further from the airport, half constructed red brick apartment buildings have a slum-like appearance, rubbish lines the streets and clogs the canals, a constant layer of dust and pollution rests like a mantle across the city. Cairo is a sprawling unfinished metropolis – housing around 24 million people.
The entire population of Australia crammed into a city bursting at the seams, and during the day they all hit the streets.

Venturing out to get some Egyptian culture I review my thoughts on driving in Cairo. Now that I can see what’s going on the roads…. and after driving in Hanoi, I should know it’s better not to look. Don't concern yourself if your cab hops on the wrong freeway entrance, he'll just reverse back down the freeway and off again. I did say best not to look...

If you can brave the traffic there are sites well worth seeing around the city, though I recommend negotiating a price with the taxi driver rather than using the meter. And they will often try to raise it once you are halfway to your destination. The cost of transport itself is not expensive in Egypt… its the waiting, so let the cab go when you get to your location. Empty cabs are always around the main tourist sights when you are done.

There are a number of must sees on any Cairo itinerary that make it worthwhile to face the Cairo streets.

The Egyptian Museum

Without a doubt if you want to to see egyptian artifact, the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities is the place to go. The museum was first built in Boulak. In 1891, it was moved to the Giza Palace of “Ismail Pasha” which housed the antiquities that were later moved to the present building.

The Egyptian Museum is situated at Tahrir Square in Cairo. It was built during the reign of Khedive Abbass Helmi II in 1897, and opened on November 15, 1902 ?107 halls house over 120,000 artifacts. A walk around the ground floor from left to right will take you on a journey through the dynasties, from the Old Kingdom through to the Greco-Roman period. The upper floor houses small statues, jewels, Tutankhamon treasures and the Royal Mummies. For the most part wandering through looking at statues and treasures, a great many of which are un-named will suffice. If you are a history buff or fanatic – buy a guide book so you know what you are looking at.

Unfortunately photos are no longer permitted in the Museum, though you can snap away at the gardens and statues outside before checking in your camera.

Next to the Museum stands burnt out government buildings, a stark reminder of the revolution. The museum was lucky to be saved from the fires, with only minor damage and some looting. We are three weeks from the first democratic elections in Egypt’s history…ever… Rule has always been by pharaohs, conquering empires, colonial powers or dictators. Sounds of demonstrations can be heard from nearby Tahrir Square.

It’s a history-making time to be in Egypt, though in reality I will be pleased to be out of Cairo before the elections and any fall-out. In all likely hood the Muslim Brotherhood will take power, and the opportunity to see Egypt in relative ease will be greatly reduced as the government takes a more conservative approach.

Coptic precinct

Although a predominately a Muslim country, 15% of Egypt’s populations is Coptic and an afternoon of wandering the narrow alleyways of Old Cairo, the home of Cairo’s Coptic Christian community is like discovering an island set apart from the ret of the city. The Coptic Orthodox Church traces its founding to Saint Mark the Apostle in 42 AD, and is thus arguably the world’s oldest Christian denomination. While the majority of Egyptians converted to Islam in the 12th century, the Church has survived through centuries of persecution, not only from hostile Muslim rulers such as the Fatimids, but also at the hands of the Crusaders, who viewed the Coptics as heretics.

There are a number of churches to see once you enter the precinct.

Ben Ezra Synagogue. Egypt’s oldest surviving synagogue, dating to the 9th century and housed in a former church constructed in the 4th century. The synagogue was established in 1115, in what was previously a Coptic church, when the Copts were forced to sell it to raise funds to pay taxes to Ibn Tulun. The famed Geniza Documents, discovered in the synagogue basement, are of great interest to modern scholars of the medieval period in Egypt

Church and Monastery of St George, Mar Girgis St. The Church of St. George dates to the 10th century or earlier. However, the current structure on the site was built in the early 20th century, having been rebuilt after a 1904 fire. It should be noted that this church is the Greek Orthodox Church of Agios Georgios (Saint George) and it is frequently mislabelled as a Coptic church. A sign in Greek outside the main entrance testifies to this. The church stands on the same grounds as the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria’s offices and the Greek Orthodox cemetery. One explanation for the church’s unusual circular ground floor plan may be that it was possibly built on ancient circular Roman ramparts. The remains of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchs can be found in one of the underground levels of the church. The cemetery contains another Greek Orthodox Church, that of the Dormition of the Virgin.

The Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus (Abu Serga) is a 4th century church and today is considered to be the oldest of Cairo's Christian churches It is dedicated to two early martyrs and traditionally believed to have been built on the spot where the Holy Family, Joseph, Mary and the infant Christ, rested at the end of their journey into Egypt. Whether you are religious are not its awe inspiring to look down into the crypt where Jesus may have been.

Known in Arabic as al-Muallaqah (“The Suspended”), the Hanging Church is the most famous Coptic church in Cairo. The church is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and is thus also known as Sitt Mariam or St. Mary’s Church.

The Hanging Church is named for its location above a gatehouse of the Roman fortress in Old Cairo; its nave is suspended over a passage. The church is approached by 29 steps; early travelers to Cairo dubbed it “the Staircase Church.”

But these sights are only minor compared with the sites that most people come to see. Tune in for Part 2 of more of Cairo craziness when we visit the pinnacle of all Egypt's monuments - the Great Pyramid of Giza and the Sphinx.

Until next time,

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Photos are the work of the author except where credited otherwise
This is an edited version of an original post on my travel blog which can be found athttp://theamateuradventurer.com/crazy-cairo/ CONTENT IS ORIGINAL
You can check out some of my other adventures here:

Amateur Adventures #30: Crazy Cairo Part 1: The Coptic Precinct and Cairo Museum

The Egyptian Museum

Coptic precinct