The Roman tower
A church on a Babylon Fortress tower.
Sailko — CC BY 3.0 · Aude — CC BY 3.0 · Sherif Louis Kamel — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Ahmed Younis Sif Saad — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Sailko — CC BY 3.0
The Church of St George is a Greek Orthodox church inside the Babylon Fortress in Coptic Cairo, built on one of the fort's round Roman towers. It belongs to the Monastery of St George under the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria. It is described as Egypt's only round church, and its dome can be seen from the metro station. The church goes back to the 10th century or earlier, but today's building went up after a fire in 1904 and was finished in 1909. In the 1550s the Russian traveller Vasily Poznyakov described an icon of St George here, credited with miracles and healings. The monastery grounds also hold an official residence of the Patriarch of Alexandria and a cemetery with Greek and Coptic sections. Eight columns carry the circular interior, a plan compared to San Vitale in Ravenna, and an ancient nilometer, once used to measure the river's level, sits at the centre of the floor. A chapel attached to the church marks, by tradition, a cave where the Holy Family sheltered on their flight into Egypt. The Patriarchate's museum next door shows icons and church treasures. The chapels and patriarchs' tombs below are closed to the public. The church stands beside Mar Girgis metro station at the entrance to Coptic Cairo, so it pairs easily with the Coptic Museum and the Hanging Church. Don't confuse it with the Coptic Convent of St George nearby.
A church on a Babylon Fortress tower.
At the centre of the church floor.
Icons and church treasures.
Babylon Fortress, Old Cairo, beside Mar Girgis metro station, Cairo
Church of Abu Serga (Saints Sergius and Bacchus)One of the oldest churches in Egypt, the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, k1 minute walk4.6
Coptic MuseumIt holds the largest collection of Coptic antiquities in the world, in the heart1 minute walk4.4
Ben Ezra SynagogueThe oldest synagogue in Cairo, in the Religions Complex of Old Cairo among the C2 minutes walk4.3
Hanging ChurchThe best known of Egypt's Coptic churches, called hanging because it was built o2 minutes walk4.8
NilometerAn octagonal well sunk at the tip of Rhoda Island, with a graduated marble colum6 minutes walk4.3No. It belongs to the Greek Orthodox Church, though it stands in Coptic Cairo among Coptic churches such as the Hanging Church.
No. The chapels and patriarchs' tombs on the fortress's lower level are currently closed to the public.