A Visit to the Cave Church

We spent several hours today visiting the Monastery of St. Simon the Tanner, informally known as The Cave Church, located in the Mokattam hills of Cairo above the Citadel.  The church is "off the beaten path" for most tourists, lying up a series of narrow roads in an area know as "garbage city" where the largely Christian collectors of the trash reside.

You could easily miss the turn onto the final road, marked only by a modest sign.


Once at the church, you realize this is a significant monument, although of fairly recent origin.  What at first appears to be a routine church front lies above a tunnel that descends into the very large church sanctuary.


The cave was originally a much smaller size but has now been excavated out to a seating capacity of some 20,000.  We arrived on a Saturday during school vacation and there were quite a few youngsters on tour.  I don't know if the pink sweaters on one group are a regular uniform, but it is quite possible.  Many schools have uniforms here.





The artwork surrounding the large sanctuary is extensive.  The younger visitors seemed to have no reservations about getting very close and sometimes climbing onto it for the requisite "selfies."




Looking up (Thanks Aliza!) and climbing to the top of the sanctuary present some nice views too.


Click on any photo to go to the album with more pictures.  A good place to start is on one of these descriptions of the church in English, French or Arabic.