A day in fustat

Other than pottery making, Fustat is famous for the Religious Complex, so called because it has some of the nation’s oldest Islamic, Christian and Jewish sites all in one area.Your walk starts with the Amr Ibn Al-Aas Mosque, built by and named for the companion of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) who conquered Egypt in the seventh century AD and made Fustat its capital.

Fustat was already well populated when Al-Aas arrived, as it had been a Roman garrison.The next stop on your tour should be the Saint Virgin Mary’s Coptic Orthodox Church, better known as the Hanging Church, built on top of the old Roman fortress of Babylon. If you go around the church, you can see the walls it rests upon. Inside, the church is marked by its inverted-ark design, exquisite inlay decoration and beautiful icons of the Holy Family’s trip to Egypt.

The Holy Family is believed to have stayed in this area during their flight from King Herod, and there are now churches or chapels over the more significant shelters.The Church of St. Sergius is built over a small cave where the family rested, while a chapel in the cemetery at the monastery of St. George shelters a well that is said to have provided water for them.

Next to the Hanging Church is the Coptic Museum, housing over 10,000 artifacts from the nation’s Christian era, as well as the Naga Hammadi Library, which is exclusive to some researchers.

The last stop on your tour of the Religious Complex is the Ben Ezra Synagogue, accessed by a maze of alleys that wind past several historic churches.One of the oldest, biggest and most important synagogues in Egypt, the building was originally a church that the Christians sold to the Jews in 882 AD to raise money for taxes; the synagogue was named after its buyer, Abraham Ibn Ezra of Jerusalem. The synagogue also houses a genizeh (storeroom) that at one point held more than 200,000 pages of medieval documents. Most of the collection has been scattered among scholars around the world, but some manuscripts still remain at Ben Ezra.

After finishing your walkabout, relax and experience some contemporary culture at Darb 1718 (Kasr El-Shamaa Street, behind the Hanging Church, Old Cairo • Telephone: +2 (012) 219-2449 or +2 (02) 2361-0511 • www.darb1718.com). While you’re at it, you can pick up some pottery nearby.