Mari Girgis

Into Coptic Cairo. The above, the main thoroughfare.

"Copts" are Egyptian Christians, the derivation of the word is long, winding and very interesting, but I won't go there. Egypt has a Coptic population hovering around 10%, although most no longer live in this area of the city, known generally as "Old Cairo."

I was becoming cagey in the dormitories and Zamalek, and concluded escaping to Coptic Cairo this morning was a low-intensity alternative when still sick. It is, unlike most places, easily accessible via the Metro, pedestrian only, calm and relatively small. And after visiting, I can officially say this is my favorite place in all of Egypt I've visited thus far. Not only does it offer a distressing concentration of major Christian landmarks and relics, but the area's pace is set to a slower rhythm, with more soothing architecture and gardens (ie, places to actually sit down for two minutes to re-group...virtually unavailable in most of Cairo).

Many of the churches are under some form of restoration, but one is free to drift in and out of these churches, some of which are underground, hidden, tucked behind others and so forth. There's no admission or agenda, nor is the place tourist saturated. Many were constructed during the mid 7th century, including Egypt's most notable synagogue, Ben Ezra, which was also spectacular. Again, few tourists, but some legitimate pilgrims, particularly in the Hanging Church. The Hanging Church was built atop a Roman fortress in the 4th century, and has endured earthquakes and church fissures during the last 1600 years, and remains an important location for Christians. I sat in one of the pews for nearly an hour in the Hanging Church, that's how impressive. And there were only a few stray people around. Overall, the place was amazing, like glossy photos out of an art history textbook all to yourself to devour for hours.

And, this place had the most interesting touristic vendors, actually, pilgrim oriented vendors, so, you'll all be getting cool photos of Coptic priests, Arabic scripture bumper stickers of Biblical verses and Coptic address books. Upon purchasing these I had an interesting conversation with a gentleman who should have also been selling Bill Clinton pictures and stickers. Clinton is a near god-like figure here, twice in one day, the cab driver decidely dislikes Bush, and wanted to know if we could put Clinton back in office. I had to explain that wasn't possible. He didn't seem to understand the concept of term limits, or even "terms of office." Nasser, Sadat and Mubarek didn't exactly feel the urge to enlighten their people to that possibility.