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The hanging church

The only church that does not have domes, and it was the first patriarchal headquarters in Cairo since the sixteenth Patriarch “Christodulos” took the church as his headquarters, and it is also one of the most famous and oldest Coptic monuments in Egypt. It is the “Hanging Church”, located in the Old Cairo district near the Temple of Ezra The Jew, and the Amr Ibn Al-Aas Mosque.

A church with a rare architectural style, built in the late fourth and early fifth centuries AD on two of the ancient towers of the Roman fortress known as "Fort of Napoleon", at a height of 13 meters from the ground, which caused it to be called the Hanging Church.

If we look at its composition, it is rectangular in shape, characterized by the basilica style consisting of three wings and a structure divided into three parts: the main nave, and two small wings, including eight columns on each side of the church. On the eastern side, there are three structures: the right one bears the name of Saint "John the Baptist", the middle one bears the name of the Holy "Virgin Mary", and the left one bears the name of Saint "Mar Gerges".

It is reported that it was renovated more than once, and underwent restoration operations, the most important one was during the rule of the governor, "Muhammad Abu al-Dahab", by "Obeid Abu Khuzam", who changed the engineering layout of the church, which explains the presence of his name on its facade.