Anyone familiar with the Gospel of Matthew knows that when God ordered a dreaming Joseph to take Mary and the infant Jesus and flee Bethlehem to escape Herod’s massacre of all male newborns, he brought them here to Egypt, where they stayed for four years.

Legend has it the locations the Holy Family visited were revealed to the Coptic Patriarch Theophilus in a dream around 500 AD. In 2000, the Egyptian government launched a tourist initiative inviting travelers to retrace the steps of the Holy Family in Egypt. But unless you’re happy with very basic accommodation, make sure you or your travel agent organize your stay in advance when traveling far from Cairo and other major cities. Although many churches and monasteries have guesthouses, they resemble youth hostels and a number of them have only shared toilets.

On the same road that links Bethlehem with Rafah, El-Arish is the first town in Egypt where the Holy Family is said to have stopped as they headed for the Nile. The Coptic Orthodox Church maintains that this crossing took place on June 1 in the year 2 AD, but there is nothing Christian to see in El-Arish, as Jesus is believed to have miraculously and quickly transported his parents across the desert to escape the deadly heat.

Because water was so important, many of the sites to be visited are built around wells miraculously created by the infant Jesus. Among them is one in Tel Basta, outside Zagazig in Sharqiyah; in Mostorad (also called Al-Mahamma, meaning ‘the Bathing Place’), north of Cairo, Mary bathed and washed Jesus’ clothes in the water of another miraculous well that still stands inside the sand-colored Church of the Virgin Mary. Thousands of people drink water from these and other wells, believing it has healing properties.

Coptic tradition has it that the Holy Family then stopped in Sammannud, near Mansoura, after crossing the Nile by ferry. Here, Jesus was angered by the presence of a Pharaonic temple dedicated to the god Horus and willed the structure to collapse. The Church of the Virgin Mary and St. Abanoub (tel: (040) 297-0347) now stands in its place and has in its courtyard a well in addition to a granite bowl in which Mary made bread. Inside are the preserved relics of a third-century child martyr, St. Abanoub, who was tortured and killed by the Romans when he was only 12. There are some 40 Christian families living in Sammannud; many of them carry the last name Abanoub.

To really walk in the footprints of Jesus, visit Sakha, in Kafr El-Sheikh, which was the next stop of the Holy Family in their flight from Herod’s soldiers. It is well-known for the 1984 ‘discovery’ of a stone with Jesus’ footprint, now preserved in a glass case inside the Church of the Holy Virgin. Passing through Wadi El-Natroun, the Holy Family is said to have traveled southwards, crossing the Nile and heading for Mataria, a suburb northwest of Cairo, where tradition tells they stopped beneath a balsam tree used to this day to prepare holy oil. There are also a museum, a Catholic Church with excellent paintings of the angel appearing to Joseph, and the Mosque of Mary, with a towering minaret.

Omar Mohsen An alley in Old Cairo

The Virgin Mary Church in Zeitoun, Cairo, is also considered a miraculous site: On April 2, 1968, passersby saw a woman walking on the church’s dome. They thought she was contemplating suicide, then realized that no human could navigate the curves. The priest declared her to be the Virgin Mary. Many people believe they were healed by this apparition, which is said to have appeared in various forms for a whole year.

It is believed the Holy Family also stayed in Old Cairo (previously known as Babylon). The Coptic Museum (tel: (02) 363-9742), where scriptures, the remains of excavations, manuscripts, icons, crosses and mosaics are kept, has been closed for renovations for a year. Visit the nearby Church of Abu Serga (St. Sergious), built at the site of a cave in which the Holy Family is thought to have resided. A huge, ornamented door is hinged inside the Convent of St. George, where you can ask to be wrapped in chains to receive a blessing. The Church of St. George contains catacombs where St. George is said to have been tortured for his faith. A short walk down Mar Girgis Street brings you to the Hanging Church, with its beautiful collection of restored ancient icons and an old iconostasis inlaid with ivory and ebony.

From Old Cairo, the Holy Family fled to Maadi, because the governor of Old Cairo plotted to kill Jesus, having heard of idols falling before him. In Maadi, the family boarded a boat toward Upper Egypt and a church dedicated to the Virgin (don’t miss the beautiful mosaics) stands near the corniche where they embarked.

The boat docked at the village of Deir Al-Garnous, near Ashneen Al-Nasara in Minya. Both villages have wells where the water rises in the summer. Traveling southward, the Holy Family rested in a cave in Gabal El-Teir (Bird Mountain), also known as Gabal Al-Kaf (Mountain of the Palm), which is now located inside a church. Then they headed toward Qussqam where, 50 kilometers north of Assiut, stands Al-Moharraq Monastery. Jesus and his parents stayed here for more than six months until an angel appeared to Joseph telling him to return to Palestine as Herod had died.

On their way back, they passed Mount Dronka, eight kilometers south of Assiut, where another monastery was later built. (In August, the moulid of the Virgin held here attracts thousands of visitors who can stay overnight at the guesthouse outside the main gate.) The Holy Family is then said to have traveled back to Old Cairo, across Sinai and back to Palestine.

The Monastic Craze

Religious scholars agree Egypt was the birthplace of Christian monasticism, which spread to the rest of Christendom. In Sinai, the Coptic monasteries of St. Anthony (Deir Mar Antonios, fourth century) and St. Paul (Deir Mar Boulos, fifth century) are the oldest in the world.

Located in the cliffs of Gebel Al-Galala Al-Qibliya, they are accessible from Zaafarana. They’re open to visitors during the day and you can hike between the two, if you have a guide and the stamina. You can stay overnight at St. Paul’s guesthouse, with permission from its residence in Cairo (tel: (02) 590-0218). St. Paul is known as the first Christian hermit and St. Anthony is credited for founding and spreading monasticism. Tradition has it that St. Paul was born to rich parents in the year 228 AD: At 16, having lost his family to persecution, he renounced his inheritance and sought refuge in the Eastern Desert, where he is said to have lived until the age of 113. St. Anthony’s Monastery houses a collection of old crosses, manuscripts and impressive wall paintings. The nearby cave where St. Anthony lived and died is worth the hike.

No visit to Sinai would be complete without trekking up Mount Sinai. Hop on a bus or flag down a service taxi from Nuweiba, Dahab or Taba. The chapel at the top houses some excellent paintings, as well as a mosque, but it is now kept locked. St. Catherine’s Monastery below has a collection of icons and jeweled crosses. It is also possible to stay overnight nearby (Monastery Guesthouse: tel: (069) 470-353).

Fourth-century Christians fled to Wadi El-Natroun, 100 kilometers northwest of Cairo, to escape Roman persecution. Of the 60 monasteries, only four remain. The Coptic pope is still chosen from among the monks of Wadi El-Natroun.

In the Nile Valley, near Sohag, the White (Deir El-Abyad) and Red (Deir Amba Bishoi) monasteries make fascinating day trips. The former was built in 400 AD using white limestone from a Pharaonic temple. The latter has a 1,000-year-old icon and some interesting frescos and houses St. Bishoi’s preserved body. Each year in July, the tube containing the body is carried in procession. Men need permission to stay overnight; women are generally not permitted.

Egypt is also home to a number of impressive convents. One of the most prominent is the Convent of St. Demiana and the Forty Virgins in the Delta, 200 kilometers northeast of Cairo. It is a huge building where 80 eremitic nuns currently live (tel: (050) 288-0007/008/034/763). Demiana was the daughter of the governor of the Borrolous, Zaafarana and Saisaban regions, and, brought up as a Christian, she decided at the age of 15 that she wanted to be the bride of Christ.

During the persecution by emperor Diocletian, Demiana’s father was persuaded to deny his faith. When Demiana made him repent, the emperor beheaded him and tortured Demiana to death. Forty Christian virgins were killed with her for good measure. Every year at the end of May, a festival is held at the convent for about two weeks — thousands of visitors go to receive blessings.

The Details

Travel Egypt (tel: (02) 418-7310) organizes trips to Christian sites, and Cornelis Hulsman (jourcoop@intouch.com; tel: (02) 359-8087), an expert on the Holy Family who co-wrote the book Be Thou There: The Holy Family’s Journey in Egypt (AUC, 2001) organizes groups looking to visit Christian sites and moulids in the Delta, Sinai and Upper Egypt for $150 per person per day. et