The Hanging Church is located in the Old Cairo district, in the important archaeological area of Coptic Cairo. It is close to the Amr Ibn Al-Aas Mosque, the Ibn Ezra Synagogue, the Church of Saint Mina next to the Babylon Fortress, the Church of the Martyr Mercurius (Abu Sefein), and many other churches.
Name and description
It was called the Suspense because it was built on two of the ancient towers of the Roman fort (Babylon Fortress), which was built by Emperor Trajan in the second century AD. The Suspense is considered the oldest church that still remains in Egypt.
The Roman Castle in Coptic Cairo (Old Cairo); Its plate hangs above a corridor. The church is approached by twenty-nine steps; The first travelers to Cairo called it the “Church of the Stairs.” The ground surface has risen by about six meters since Roman times, so most of the Roman tower is buried underground, reducing the visual impact of the church's elevated location.
Entrance from the street is through iron gates under a pointed stone arch. The 19th-century facade with double bell towers is then seen outside a narrow courtyard decorated with modern Biblical artistic designs. Up the stairs and through the entrance there is another small courtyard leading to the 11th century outdoor terrace.
History
The church was built on the ruins of a place where it is said that the Holy Family (the Virgin Mary, the Christ Child, and Saint Joseph the Carpenter) took shelter during the three years they spent in Egypt escaping from Herod the ruler of Palestine, who had ordered the killing of children for fear of a prophecy he had received. Some believe that it is a place for a cell (a place of seclusion) in which one of the women monks lived, in one of the rocky catacombs dug in the place.
The church was renewed several times during the Islamic era, once during the caliphate of Harun al-Rashid, when Patriarch Anba Markos asked the governor for permission to renew the church. Once during the Fatimid era of Al-Aziz Billah, he allowed Patriarch Ephrem Al-Syriac to renovate all of Egypt’s churches and repair what was destroyed. And a third time during the era of Al-Zahir to strengthen the religion of God. It has been the seat of many patriarchs since the eleventh century, and Patriarch Christodoulos was the first to use the Hanging Church as the seat of the Pope of Alexandria. A number of patriarchs were buried there in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, and there are still pictures and icons of them in the church, for which candles are lit, and celebrations were held there. The trials of priests and bishops, as well as the trials of heretics there, are considered an important shrine for the Copts, due to its historical antiquity, the connection of the place to the Holy Family, and its presence among churches and monasteries of venerable saints, thus facilitating their visit.
Architecture
Temple in the Hanging Church.
The facade of the church is located on the western side on Mary Girgis Street, and it has two floors. There is a fountain in front of it, and it was built in the famous basilica style, consisting of 3 wings, a front hall, and a structure divided into 3 parts. It is rectangular in shape and relatively small, with dimensions of about 23.5 meters in length, 18.5 meters in width, and 9.5 meters in height. It consists of a main courtyard and two small wings, with eight columns between them on each side. Between the courtyard and the northern wing is a row of three columns with large pointed arches. The columns separating the wings are made of marble except for one of black basalt. It is noted that it has a number of The capitals of the columns are “Corinthian” style. On the eastern side of the church there are three temples: the middle bears the name of Saint Mary, the right bears the name of Saint John the Baptist, and the left bears the name of Saint Mary George.

In front of these structures, there are wooden veils, the most important of which is the middle veil made of ebony inlaid with transparent ivory. It dates back to the twelfth or thirteenth century. It is engraved with beautiful geometric shapes and crosses, and is surmounted by icons depicting Jesus Christ on a throne, and on his right is the Virgin Mary and the angel. Gabriel and Saint Peter, and to his left are John the Baptist, the angel Michael, and Saint Paul. At the top of the altar inside this temple is a wooden canopy supported by four columns, and behind it is a platform for the priests to sit on. In the right wing of the church, parts of Egyptian national newspapers were hung on one of the walls, recording events and scenes from the modern history of the church related to the Copts in Egypt, perhaps the most important of which was the appearance of the Virgin Mary in her church in the Zaytoun neighborhood following the defeat of the 1967 war.
After the ordination of Pope Christodoulos, he moved from the St. Mark's Church in Alexandria to Egypt, and took the Hanging Church in Dhahir al-Fustat as his headquarters. He also renovated the Church of St. Mercurius and made it a major cathedral and a center for his see. He also made the Church of the Virgin Mary in the Al-Aroum neighborhood his headquarters where he could stay when necessary, with the consent of the Bishop of Babylon. The reason for this is the transfer of the greatness of the city of Alexandria to the city of Cairo, the large number of Christians there, and his connection to the government. So the Pope began to appoint a bishop of Alexandria in the name of the agent of the preaching of Mark. “Dictionary of the Fathers and Saints of the Church” Dictionary of the Fathers and Saints of the Church.
Importance
The Hanging Church is the most famous Coptic Christian church in Cairo, and perhaps the first church built in the basilica style.
The church is the site of several reported Marian apparitions. She is said to have appeared in a dream to Baba Abraham in the 970s in the story of how the Mokattam Mountain was moved by the faith of Simon Tanner.
Religious significance
The Hanging Church is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and contains sanctuaries for her and Saints John the Baptist and George. The church held many important ceremonies for the Coptic hierarchy in Cairo. These include the selection and burial of patriarchs, the former occurring from the eleventh to fourteenth centuries while the latter only between the eleventh and twelfth centuries, as well as the consecration of holy oil and the adjudication of heresy trials; Choosing the date of Easter for each year was another important procedure held during. These processes take place in the Hanging Church due to the movement of the patriarchal seat in the 11th century to Cairo from Alexandria.
The seat of the Coptic Pope.