Hanging Church

Hanging Church tickets: which one to buy

The Hanging Church, officially the Saint Virgin Mary's Coptic Orthodox Church, stands in Coptic Cairo, the old Christian quarter in the south of Cairo, Egypt, and entry is free, with donations welcome. It is one of the oldest and most famous churches in Egypt, and it is known as the Hanging Church, al-Muallaqa, because it was built on top of the gatehouse of the Roman fortress of Babylon, so its nave seems to hang above the ground. The church is a short walk from the Mar Girgis metro station, which makes it easy to reach from central Cairo.

Visitors usually combine it with the Coptic Museum next door, which holds the world's largest collection of Coptic art, the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, where tradition says the Holy Family sheltered, the Ben Ezra Synagogue, the Church of Saint George and the Mosque of Amr ibn al-As nearby. The church is active, with services, and visitors should dress modestly, covering shoulders and knees. Security checks are carried out at the entrance to the Coptic quarter. The quarter's narrow lanes are quieter than the rest of Cairo, with small shops selling books and religious items.

Visiting Hanging Church: what to see

A church may have stood here as early as the third or fourth century, and the church is known to have existed by the seventh century, although the present building has been rebuilt and restored many times, especially in the ninth and eleventh centuries and later. It served as the residence of the Coptic Patriarchs for a period in the Middle Ages, and several patriarchs were elected and enthroned here. Visitors reach the church by climbing a flight of steps from the street, passing through a courtyard decorated with modern mosaics. Glass panels in the floor inside allow visitors to see down into the Roman gate towers below.

The church has a basilica plan with a nave and aisles, and its wooden roof is shaped like the inside of Noah's Ark. The nave is separated by slender marble columns, one of them black, and the marble pulpit is supported by thirteen columns representing Christ and the apostles. The church's greatest treasures are its screens, made of cedar wood inlaid with ivory and ebony in geometric patterns, which separate the sanctuaries from the nave, and its collection of more than a hundred icons, the oldest from the eighth century, including images of the Virgin and saints. One famous icon of the Virgin is known as the Coptic Mona Lisa.

Hanging Church opening hours and the best time to go

The church is open daily, and services are held on Friday and Sunday mornings, when the church is busy with worshippers and visiting may be limited. Cairo is very hot from June to September, and the cooler months from October to April are the most comfortable. Coptic Christmas on 7 January and Coptic Easter bring large celebrations. Weekday mornings are the quietest. Allow about half an hour for the church, and a few hours for the Coptic Museum and the other churches of the quarter.