Cave Churches of Muqattam Hills

I'm no expert, but I'd consider the cave churches located in the Muqattam hills of Manshiyat Nasser one of Cairo's hidden gems. The guide books I've been reading have hardly mentioned them- perhaps because you have to drive through Garbage City to get there. Even my dad's driver was unsure of their location and he's Coptic. In fact, once we got there he asked if he could come along with us because he'd never been. This pleased me to no end. I'm always worried that the poor driver and bodyguard are bored to tears with each new mosque/souq/park we drag them to. I was thrilled that he actually wanted to join us for once.

We visited three churches- the Church of Virgin Mary, St. Mark's Church and St. Simeon's Church. The churches are located inside caves carved out of the limestone of the hills. There are also several carvings and inscriptions carved into the rock face. The whole area is quieter, calmer and less dirty than it's surrounding neighborhood (which isn't hard to do since the surrounding neighborhood is called GARBAGE City.) It really is a nice, peaceful sanctuary right in the middle of all the muck. Plus the temperature inside the caves was much cooler than the outside air.

Garbage City + Two Filthy Grandsons + Lollipops = One Dirt-Covered Baba

A view of Garbage City sitting below the hills.

Amen, Come Lord Jesus.

Ike has really mastered the art of dawdling. He will meander this way and that way, picking up random pieces of garbage and placing them in his mouth. UNLESS you challenge him to a race and then he is able to keep pace with us. Here he is racing with Wael. So fast, he's a blur! Or I just didn't feel like changing my camera settings.