A Beautiful Door

One of the interior doors in the Hanging Church is a beautiful piece of inlaid ivory and wood with a bibilical reference in Arabic. This may seem a little odd but isn't really here. After all, both Copts and Muslims speak Arabic.

Light In The Darkness

A little girl lights a candle to the Virgin Mary in the Moakalla, otherwise known as the Hanging Church because it was built in the 7th century suspended over the gate of a Roman fortress, likely on the site of an even older church. When you visit this famous Coptic church, there are windows through which you can look through the floor to see the walls of the fortress far below your feet.

Quiet Shops

I was taking some friends to Coptic Cairo the other day and we noticed a new shopping area near the entrance to the area. It was cool, quiet, well laid out and maintained.....and empty. Most of the shops carried the handicrafts that various NGO's and charitable groups produce. This young woman had fabrics and embroideries from Upper Egypt.