Al-Fustat β Old Cairo
π Location: South-central Cairo, east bank of the Nile Β Β· Β πΊ Period: Founded 641 AD Β Β· Β ποΈ Tickets: mostly free; some museums charge
Al-Fustat ("the encampment") was the very first capital of Islamic Egypt, founded by the general Amr ibn al-As in 641 AD on the site of the old Roman fortress of Babylon. It remained Egypt's seat of power for three hundred years, until the Fatimids founded al-Qahira (Cairo) just to the north. Today the area β usually called Old Cairo or Masr al-Qadima β is one of the most layered religious quarters anywhere in the world.
Inside the Roman walls of Babylon you can still walk between a Coptic church suspended over a Roman gateway (the Hanging Church), a synagogue where the Geniza documents were discovered (Ben Ezra), one of the oldest churches in Africa (Saints Sergius and Bacchus, said to mark a stop on the Holy Family's flight into Egypt), and the Mosque of Amr ibn al-As β the first mosque ever built on the African continent. Excavations in adjacent Fustat itself have uncovered the foundations of medieval houses, glass kilns and Egypt's earliest Islamic-period pottery.
The newly opened National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) sits in the same district, holding the 22 Royal Mummies.
Highlights
- Mosque of Amr ibn al-As (641 AD, much rebuilt)
- Hanging Church (El-Muallaqa) β Coptic, 4thβ7th c.
- Ben Ezra Synagogue β site of the Cairo Geniza
- Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus β crypt linked to the Holy Family
- Coptic Museum β see our page
- NMEC β see our page
Visiting
- Opening hours: churches typically 9 am β 4 pm; closed during services Sunday morning
- Tickets: churches free; museums charge
- Dress: modest β covered shoulders and knees
- Nearby: Coptic Museum, NMEC