Saints Sergius and Bacchus Church
The Coptic Church of Cairo, Egypt is a part of Old Cairo, which encompasses the Babylon Fortress, the Coptic Museum, the Hanging Church, the Greek Church of St. George, and other Coptic churches and historical sites. My visit took place on the afternoon of November 5, 2024.
Saint Bashnouna
Saint Bashnouna was a monk in St. Macarius monastery, Egypt, in the period of battles that took place between. the men of Prince Dhargham, and the men of Minister Shawar. During the Fatimid rule, in the laté of the 12th century Saint Bashnouna was arrested. They tried to make him deny his faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, but he refused firmly.
After torturing him, they burned him alive and he received the crown of martyrdom on 24 Bashans 880 – 1164 AD. The Believers took his bones and carried them to the Church of Abu Serga in Old Cairo, and they buried him there as written in the synaxarium dated 24 Bashans. His bones were found during the restoration of the church on 24 April 1990.
The Holy Family
In Christian tradition, the Holy Family visited this area and stayed at the site of Saints Sergius and Bacchus Church (Abu Serga), the Church of Martyrs Sergius and Bacchus in The Cave, one of Egypt’s oldest Coptic Christian churches tracing its origins to the 4th century. Coptic Cairo was a stronghold for Christianity in Egypt both before and during the Islamic era, a period that witnessed an increase in churches being built after the Muslim conquest of Egypt in the 7th century.
