Greek Orthodox Monastery & Church of St George

Cairo


The first doorway north of the Coptic Museum gate leads to the Greek Orthodox Monastery and Church of St George. St George (Mar Girgis) is one of the region’s most popular Christian saints. A Palestinian conscript in the Roman army, he was executed in AD 303 for resisting Emperor Diocletian’s decree forbidding the practice of Christianity. There has been a church dedicated to him in Coptic Cairo since the 10th century; this one dates from 1909.

The neighbouring monastery is closed to visitors. The Coptic moulid (saints’ festival) of Mar Girgis is held here on 23 April.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Cairo attractions

1. Roman Towers

0.03 MILES

In AD 98 the Roman emperor Trajan enlarged an existing fortress here, called Babylon, likely a corruption of Per-hapi-en-on (Estate of the Nile God at On)…

2. Church of St Sergius & Bacchus

0.04 MILES

This is the oldest church inside Coptic Cairo's walls, built in the 11th century with 4th-century pillars. It honours the Roman soldiers Sergius and…

3. Coptic Museum

0.05 MILES

This museum, founded in 1908, houses Coptic art from the earliest days of Christianity in Egypt right through to early Islam. It is a beautiful place, as…

4. Hanging Church

0.07 MILES

Just south of the Coptic Museum on Sharia Mar Girgis (the main road parallel with the metro), a stone facade inscribed with Coptic and Arabic marks the…

5. Ben Ezra Synagogue

0.07 MILES

Just outside the walls of the Coptic enclave, the 9th-century Ben Ezra Synagogue occupies the shell of a 4th-century Christian church. Tradition marks…

6. Church of St Barbara

0.08 MILES

At the corner past Abu Sarga, the Church of St Barbara is dedicated to a martyr who was beaten to death by her father for trying to convert him to…

8. Nilometer

0.3 MILES

At the very southern tip of Roda, inside the Monastirli Palace compound, the Nilometer was constructed in AD 861. Like others built millennia before, it…