I have been to many large and small churches in Europe and the United States, and the "cave Church" in Cairo, Egypt, is quite a unique existence, completely located inside a huge rocky hill. Compared with the civilization of ancient Egypt and the current Islam, Christianity has a relatively weak position in Egyptian culture, and this church was built during the period of ancient Rome's rule over Egypt, which can be seen today.

Cairo, the capital of Egypt, is a city full of churches, mosques, and many great historic buildings. From a high vantage point, towering minarets, crosses, and dome-like buildings are densely arranged to enrich the skyline. During my stay in Cairo, I visited many buildings, but the one that impressed me the most was the cave church, which was reached through the world's largest garbage city, where I felt a strong sense of contrast.

⛪️ The Cave Church
📍Uber rides directly to St. Simon The Tanner Monastery or The Cave Church through Trash City.

Can let the driver drive to the door of the cave church, I took a taxi to come in, walk out, the return basic can not hit the car, garbage city internal traffic to tutu, the price of tourists, it is recommended to walk out after the tour, do not want to walk friends can also let the driver wait in place

To get to the Cave church, you have to go through the Garbage City, which is a very unique experience. The driving distance in the garbage city is about 1.4km, and the people living here are just like the rest of Cairo, so there is no need to worry too much. It was supposed to be a strange experience like a village in a cave deep in the mountains of southwest Guizhou, jolting through Cairo's largest garbage recycling city, where the sour smell of garbage can seep in bit by bit even if the Windows are not rolled down. But when you cross the distance of a few hundred meters, all you can see is the magnificent rock carvings, angel sculptures and huge cave churches that are half submerged.

After communicating with the gatekeeper, I learned that the cave church is actually a Coptic church gathering group, the so-called garbage city is also a gathering place of Coptic religion, and the people here handle one-third of the garbage in Cairo, and this magnificent church is also cleaned by these people, for nothing else, just so that more people can come here and understand here. Even as I talked to him, I saw several churchgoers spontaneously picking up scraps of paper from the floor and carrying them away.

After knowing this story, Cairo, which I just thought was the dirtiest and worst in my eyes, even looked a little like a garbage city where human suffering was materialized, as if it had become sacred. On the way back from the walk, the people who are busy sorting garbage, when they see the tourists coming, they will put down their work and greet you with dirty hands, when you let down your guard to respond to them, you will see their clear eyes full of kindness.

Here, the cave church and the garbage city are more like a whole, indispensable, mutual achievement, the people here have light in their hearts because of the cave church, and the church also shines because of the efforts of these people.

You see, faith is the flower of man in the most barren soil.



"The entrance to the church seems ordinary, and entering the inside feels like another world."

The cave church is completely free and open, and the church area is two completely different worlds from the outside, there is no noisy one dollar, no flies like vendors, as if came to the "Cairo foreign land."

Down the slope of the little door into the main church, this church cut into the rock is very impressive, I sat here for a long time;

In addition to the largest main church, there is a secret small cave church on the side of the easy to be ignored, more mysterious atmosphere.
⛪ First Cave Church
Online said that there are actually three cave churches, the first cave church is the most familiar one, the interior is very shocking, can hold nearly 20,000 people.

⛪ Second Cave Church
This one is further down, along the road to the right of the church of the First Cave, you can see the sign in Figure 7, one minute further inside. This church is also quite distinctive, unlike the semi-enclosed church of the First Cave.


⛪ Church of the Third Cave
It's on the way up the hill, but it's still under construction, so you can't visit it.

There is a small paradise next to the cave church, with two little monkeys, and the zipline rope experience is recommended. It is fun and cheap, 150 pounds/person, and you can glide down from the top and overlook the panoramic view of the cave church.