# Hanging Church, Cairo > The Hanging Church (al-Muallaqa) is the Coptic Church of the Virgin Mary, built over the gate of Babylon, the Roman fortress in Coptic Cairo. Entry is free; it is open daily 9:00–16:00, though tourists may be kept out during morning services. Allow 30–40 minutes for the church, about an hour with the neighbouring churches. Web page: https://yesgo.io/egypt/cairo/hanging-church - City: [Cairo](https://yesgo.io/egypt/cairo), Egypt - YesGo score: 42/100 (Yes, if nearby) - Time on site: 1 h - With kids: Fine with kids - Entry: Free; donations welcome - Hours: Daily 9:00–16:00 - Services: Unofficial: Wed and Fri 8:00–11:00, Sun 9:00–11:00 — visitors may be kept out - Coptic Museum next door: EGP 280; students up to 24 EGP 140; under-6s free - Coptic Museum hours: From 9:00, last entry 16:00; Ramadan last entry 14:00 - Paying: Visa and Mastercard for museum tickets; cash pounds for the metro and donations - Metro: Mar Girgis, Line 1 — the quarter is right outside - Access: 29 steps up to the door; not wheelchair-friendly - Photos: Rules vary — ask at the door; no flash - Address: Mar Girgis Street, Old (Coptic) Cairo - Coordinates: 30.00542, 31.23008 - Facts checked: 03.11.2026 ## Key facts - **Over a gate** — built on the bastions of the southern gate of the Roman Babylon Fortress — the nave hangs over the passage (source: English Wikipedia; Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities; Tonkosti) - **11th century** — the church became the residence of the Coptic popes (source: English and Russian Wikipedia; Tonkosti) - **29 steps** — lead up to the entrance — early travellers called it the “Staircase Church” (source: English Wikipedia; Sacred Destinations; Tonkosti) - **≈ 110 icons** — mostly 18th-century; Wikipedia dates the oldest to the 8th century, the ministry to the 15th (source: English Wikipedia; Tonkosti; Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities) - **Noah’s Ark** — the timber roof of the nave is shaped like the hull of a ship (source: Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities; Sacred Destinations) - **3rd century** — traditional date of the first church on the site; the present building took shape in the 7th–9th centuries (source: English and Russian Wikipedia; Tonkosti) - **1998–2011** — major restoration of the church and its surroundings (source: English Wikipedia; Tonkosti) - **c. 1300** — the church’s carved wooden door panels — now in the British Museum (source: English Wikipedia; Tonkosti) - **Ivory inlay** — on the main iconostasis, topped by a row of seven large icons (source: Sacred Destinations; Tonkosti) ## Is the Hanging Church free? Entry and opening hours Yes — entry to the church itself is **free**, and there is a donation box inside. Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities lists it as open **every day, 9:00–16:00**. Some guidebooks say 17:00, but plan to be there before 16:00 to be safe. The only paid sight in the quarter is the **Coptic Museum** next door: EGP 280 for foreign adults, EGP 140 for students up to 24 with a valid card, free for under-6s. It opens at 9:00 with last entry at 16:00 (14:00 in Ramadan). The ministry’s ticketing takes Visa and Mastercard; you will still want small Egyptian pounds in cash for the metro, donations and tips. > **A working church: what to wear and when to avoid** Cover shoulders and knees — no shorts or vest tops — and women may want a scarf. Visitors can be kept out during morning liturgy; unofficial listings give Wednesday and Friday 8:00–11:00 and Sunday 9:00–11:00. The safest slot is after 11:00. During a service, keep your voice down and your camera away. ## How to get to the Hanging Church 1. From Tahrir Square, go down to **Sadat** metro station and take **Line 1** towards Helwan. Buy your ticket with cash at the station window. 2. Ride 4 stops to **Mar Girgis** — about 10 minutes. 3. Exit onto the pedestrian Mar Girgis Street: the Coptic Museum gate is right in front of you. 4. Walk a couple of minutes south along the street to the church courtyard and climb the stairs to the door. 5. Prefer a car? **Uber, Careem or inDrive** from Tahrir take 15–25 minutes depending on traffic — set the pin to “Hanging Church, Mar Girgis Street”. Unmetered street taxis usually cost more. ## Why is it called the Hanging Church? Because it really does hang. The church was built on top of two bastions of the southern gate of **Babylon Fortress**, the Roman stronghold that guarded this stretch of the Nile, so its nave sits suspended above the old gate passage. The Arabic name, al-Muallaqa, means “the suspended one”. That is also why you reach the door up a flight of 29 steps. It is one of Egypt’s oldest churches. Tradition puts a first church here in the 3rd century; most of what stands today dates from the 7th–9th centuries, with the twin-towered façade added in the 19th. In the 11th century it became the residence of the Coptic popes, which made it the most important church in the country for a time. ## What to see inside - **The Noah’s Ark roof** — the timber ceiling of the nave is built like an upturned ship’s hull. - **The iconostasis screens**, inlaid with ivory, with a row of seven large icons above the main one. - **The marble pulpit** on slender columns — the ministry dates it to the 11th century; traditionally there are 13 columns, for Christ and the apostles. - **The icons** — around 110, mostly 18th-century. - **The side chapels** of St George and John the Baptist, each with its own screen of icons from the saint’s life. - **The latticed courtyard** at the foot of the stairs — the classic angle for both bell towers. ## What else to see in Coptic Cairo The Hanging Church is the gateway to a compact walled quarter, and the rest is a few minutes’ walk away. The **Church of St George** is Greek Orthodox, not Coptic, and stands inside a Greek monastery; the church is free to enter, the monastery itself is closed to visitors. **Abu Serga** (Saints Sergius and Bacchus) is built over a crypt where, by tradition, the Holy Family sheltered on their flight into Egypt; groundwater sometimes floods it, and then it is shut. **Ben Ezra Synagogue** no longer has a congregation and works as a museum — the Cairo Geniza, a vast hoard of medieval manuscripts, was found here. Sources disagree on its hours, so check on the day. The **Coptic Museum**, founded by Marcus Simaika, holds the major collection of Coptic art — textiles, icons, carved stone and wood. Short on time? Do the Hanging Church and the museum, and see the rest as you pass. ## Before you go: checklist - [ ] Shoulders and knees covered, scarf in my bag - [ ] Not a liturgy morning — or arriving after 11:00 - [ ] There before 16:00 - [ ] Small Egyptian pounds for the metro and a donation - [ ] Visa or Mastercard if I’m doing the Coptic Museum - [ ] Comfortable shoes — stairs and cobbles - [ ] Water with me ## Hanging Church vs NMEC vs the Citadel | | Hanging Church | Civilization museum (NMEC) | Cairo Citadel | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | What it is | Coptic church over a Roman gate | Egypt’s story and the royal mummies | Medieval fortress with mosques | | Foreign visitor ticket | Free | EGP 550 | EGP 550 | | Hours | 9:00–16:00 daily | 9:00–17:00, Fri also 18:00–21:00 | From 8:00 (9:00 in summer), last entry 16:00 | | Time needed | 30–40 min; 1–2 h for the quarter | 1.5–2 h | ≈ 1.5 h | | Metro | Mar Girgis, at the exit | Mar Girgis + ≈ 2 km | None — taxi only | All three are in the south of old Cairo and chain neatly into one day: Coptic Cairo in the morning, the mummies at midday, the Citadel in the afternoon. ## Is the Hanging Church worth visiting? Yes, if you want a side of Cairo that isn’t pharaohs or minarets. It is free, the metro drops you at the door, and within an hour you pass through Roman walls, a medieval Coptic church, a Greek one and a synagogue. It makes a good start to a day that continues at the [National Museum of Egyptian Civilization](https://yesgo.io/egypt/cairo/egyptian-civilization-museum), about 2 km away. The honest downside: the church itself is small, and unless icons and early Christianity interest you, half an hour is plenty. Morning services can shut you out. With only one day in Cairo, save the quarter for a second visit — the pyramids and the big museums come first. ## Cairo’s churches and mosques compared Every church and mosque in Cairo rated by YesGo. - [Al-Azhar Mosque](https://yesgo.io/egypt/cairo/al-azhar-mosque) — YesGo score 45/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 30 min · Free - [Cairo Citadel and Muhammad Ali Mosque](https://yesgo.io/egypt/cairo/cairo-citadel) — YesGo score 44/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · 550 EGP, students 275 EGP - [Hanging Church](https://yesgo.io/egypt/cairo/hanging-church) — YesGo score 42/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Free entry ## Coptic and Islamic Cairo in a day The Hanging Church first thing, the mummies in Fustat, the Citadel after lunch and the bazaar in the evening. 1. [Hanging Church](https://yesgo.io/egypt/cairo/hanging-church) — YesGo score 42/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h · Free entry 2. [National Museum of Egyptian Civilization](https://yesgo.io/egypt/cairo/egyptian-civilization-museum) — YesGo score 36/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · EGP 550, mummies included 3. [Cairo Citadel and Muhammad Ali Mosque](https://yesgo.io/egypt/cairo/cairo-citadel) — YesGo score 44/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · 550 EGP, students 275 EGP 4. [Khan el-Khalili](https://yesgo.io/egypt/cairo/khan-el-khalili) — YesGo score 43/100 (Yes, if nearby) · 1 h 30 min · Free ## Good to know “Babylon” here is the Roman fortress in Cairo, not the city in Iraq — the church has nothing to do with the Hanging Gardens. You will also see it listed as St Virgin Mary’s Coptic Orthodox Church or al-Muallaqa. Egypt has many churches of St George; the one on this page is the Greek Orthodox church a few steps away in Coptic Cairo. ## Tips - Come at opening time unless it’s Wednesday, Friday or Sunday — unofficial listings put the morning liturgy on those days. - Carry small notes: cash matters more than cards for the metro and the donation box. - After the church, wander the lanes to Abu Serga and Ben Ezra Synagogue — 5–10 minutes on foot. - Want context for what you saw? The Coptic Museum holds pieces from these very churches. - The National Museum of Egyptian Civilization is about 2 km away — 5–10 minutes by Uber or Careem. - A guided walk is worth it here: a guide links the Roman, Coptic, Greek and Jewish sites into one story. ## Questions ### Is the Hanging Church free to visit? Yes, entry to the church is free; donations are welcome. In the quarter, only the Coptic Museum charges — EGP 280 for foreign adults, EGP 140 for students up to 24. ### What are the Hanging Church opening hours? Daily 9:00–16:00, according to the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. Visitors may be kept out during morning services — unofficially Wednesday and Friday until 11:00 and Sunday 9:00–11:00. ### How do I get to the Hanging Church by metro? Take Line 1 from Sadat (Tahrir Square) towards Helwan, 4 stops to Mar Girgis — about 10 minutes. The church is a couple of minutes’ walk from the exit. ### Why is it called the Hanging Church? It was built on the bastions of the southern gate of the Roman Babylon Fortress, so its nave hangs over the old passage. Al-Muallaqa means “the suspended one”. ### How old is the Hanging Church? Tradition puts a first church here in the 3rd century. The present building mostly dates from the 7th–9th centuries; the façade with twin bell towers is 19th-century. ### What is the dress code for the Hanging Church? Shoulders and knees covered, no shorts or vest tops. A scarf is handy for women and useful in the other churches nearby. ### Can you take photos inside the Hanging Church? Sources disagree: some say photos without flash are fine, others that photography isn’t allowed. Ask at the door, and never shoot during a service. ### How long do you need at the Hanging Church? 30–40 minutes for the church; about an hour with St George, Abu Serga and Ben Ezra; 2–3 hours if you add the Coptic Museum. ### Is the Hanging Church worth visiting? Yes for a free, easy-to-reach look at Christian Cairo inside Roman walls. If icons don’t interest you, 30 minutes is enough — and it’s a second-day sight after the pyramids. ## How we checked The church’s hours come from the official Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities page (9:00–16:00); some guidebooks give 17:00, and we show the official time. Coptic Museum fares and hours come from the ministry’s ticketing system. Free entry to the church is confirmed by Wikivoyage and Tonkosti, not by the ministry, so it is marked as unofficial. Service times are unofficial and sources name different days. The pulpit column count differs — 13 in Sacred Destinations and Tonkosti, 15 in English Wikipedia, 10 on the ministry page — so we say “traditionally 13”. The oldest icons are dated to the 8th century by Wikipedia and the 15th by the ministry; we show both. The Coptic Museum’s founding year differs (1908 or 1910), so we leave it out. Sources disagree on photography, so we suggest asking at the door. Wikivoyage contradicts itself on Ben Ezra’s hours, so we don’t give them. ## Sources - Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities: The Hanging Church — hours and interior (egymonuments.gov.eg) - Ministry ticketing: Coptic Museum — fares, hours, Ramadan (egymonuments.com); Coptic Museum page on egymonuments.gov.eg - English and Russian Wikipedia: Hanging Church, Church of St Mary (Cairo); Wikidata Q2422298 - English Wikipedia: Church of St. George (Cairo), Ben Ezra Synagogue, Saints Sergius and Bacchus Church - Sacred Destinations: Hanging Church, Cairo - Tonkosti (Russian travel guide): Church of St Mary in Cairo — service times, history, interior - Wikivoyage: Cairo/Old Cairo — Mar Girgis metro, churches of the quarter --- This is the Markdown version of a YesGo page for AI assistants. Quote the web page link above, not this file.