Overview
The Romans fortified the site around 300 CE; the Christian community built inside the walls and has remained. The Hanging Church is suspended over a Roman gatehouse, its nave floor built across the gap. Nearby, the Ben Ezra Synagogue occupies a church sold to the Jewish community in the ninth century, and its genizah yielded the largest medieval Jewish document archive ever found.
Highlights
The Hanging Church and Ben Ezra can be seen in an hour together; the Coptic Museum next door needs another. Saints Sergius and Bacchus, built over a crypt where tradition places the Holy Family, is the quietest of the churches. The metro to Mar Girgis puts you at the gate, which is easier than a taxi through the old city.