After breakfast, an Ontrip Egypt representative and our Egyptologist guide will pick you up from your hotel to explore the historic structures from the early Christian and Islamic eras in Cairo. Your tour will begin with a visit to the Ahmed Ibn Tulun Mosque, which is the oldest completed and still operational Islamic building in Cairo. Its impressive architecture will astound you and demonstrate the skill of the builders and those who decorated this building.
The next stop is the El Refa'i Mosque, which was constructed in honor of the Islamic Suffi figure Ahmed Al Refa'i, who today has millions of adherents. You will eat lunch in a local restaurant before beginning the second half of the tour. One of the oldest churches in Egypt, dating back to the 4th century, is the Hanging Church (The Church of Virgin Mary). It is nicknamed the Hanging Church because it is built upon the walls of the Western gate of a Roman fortification.
After visiting this wonderful old church, you will visit the church of St. Sergius (Abu Serga). It is thought that this church was built on land where the holy family rested during their journey into Egypt when Christ was nativity by his mother the Virgin Mary and Joseph the carpenter. It also has the crypts where the first Christian Egyptians were hiding from the Roman soldiers hunting them. It really has an atmosphere there.