St George

According to The Rough Guide to Egypt, a guide that I used for this trip, ' the Monastery of St George is now the seat of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria.' It is the only round church in Egypt because it is built atop one of the old Roman gateway towers. Mari Girgis is the Arabic name for St George. Somewhere in one of these buildings are found the relics of St george, the saint who was tortured by the Romans by being wrapped in chains. The feast of St George is a very big Coptic celebration in Egypt and it falls on April 23. This area, because it receives money from the Greek church is well preserved, even it's cemetery is in a much better shape than the previous cemetery that we visited.

It was the most delightful of days, it was cool and quiet in this courtyard. We met a few visitors from South of here, Egyptians who is visiting Cairo from the South. They were the sweetest people, so unlike the Cairenes. We can still hear but softly the call to prayer coming from outside the walls. Inside these walls, one cannot tell that is is part of Cairo, it may be somewhere in Europe.

There was a funeral party outside the church walls, we saw the cortege leave and people crying as they got into their cars to follow.

Part of the old Roman wall wraps around here. This was part of the old Roman Empire.

I love the Arabic writings and motifs, it is so unusual and delightful. I've become partial to it.