Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¼´Ê±¿ª½±

Church of St Simeon the Tanner

Cairo

LoginSave

The Church of St Simeon the Tanner, is carved into a cave on a ridge of Muqattam Hill. Thought to be the biggest church in the Middle East, it seats 17,000 worshippers. But this church is not old, it was built in the 1970s, in a cave thought to have once been home to early Christian hermits, and named after St Simeon, the 10th-century ascetic who prayed to make Muqattam move at the behest of Fatimid caliph Al Muizz Li Din Allah.

Today the church is a major site of Coptic pilgrimage, and there are several other churches scattered around the ridge area. Fridays and Sundays, when mass is held, are chaotically busy at the church. For a more relaxed visiting experience, avoid these days.

Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¼´Ê±¿ª½±'s must-see attractions

  • Pyramids of Giza during sunset.

    Pyramids of Giza

    9.44 MILES

    The last remaining wonder of the ancient world; for nearly 4000 years, the extraordinary shape, impeccable geometry and sheer bulk of the Giza Pyramids…

  • A guide briefs tourists before canopic jars which contained the organs of the ancient Egyptian New Kingdom Pharaoh Tutankhamun (1332-1323 BC) at his tomb KV62, displayed with the Tutankhamun collection at the Egyptian Museum in the centre of Egypt's capital Cairo on November 6, 2022. - The resting place of Egypt's pharaoh Tutankhamun has become the world's most famous tomb, its discovery 100 years ago among the greatest archaeological discoveries of all time.

    Egyptian Museum

    2.86 MILES

    One of the world’s most important collections of ancient artefacts, the Egyptian Museum takes pride of place in Downtown Cairo, on the north side of Midan…

  • It is the most remarkable construction of the necropolis of Saqqara, south of the city of Memphis. Some tourists walk next to the pyramid..Saqqara, Egypt. March 27, 2008

    Saqqara

    11.69 MILES

    Covering a 7km stretch of the Western Desert, Saqqara, the huge cemetery of ancient Memphis, was an active burial ground for more than 3500 years and is…

  • Cairo, Egypt - October 26, 2019: Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo; Shutterstock ID 1557780782; your: Sloane Tucker; gl: 65050; netsuite: Online Editorial; full: POI 1557780782

    Museum of Islamic Art

    1.72 MILES

    This museum, on the edge of Islamic Cairo, holds one of the world’s finest collections of Islamic art and is Egypt's (and one of the entire Middle East's)…

  • Al-Azhar mosque in Cairo.

    Al Azhar Mosque

    1.32 MILES

    Founded in AD 970 as the centrepiece of the newly created Fatimid city, Al Azhar is one of Cairo’s earlier mosques, and its sheikh is considered the…

  • The minaret of Qalawun complex rises over Al-Muizz street.

    Sharia Al Muizz Li Din Allah

    1.47 MILES

    Sharia Al Muizz, as it’s usually called, named after the Fatimid caliph who conquered Cairo in AD 969, was Cairo's grand thoroughfare, once chock-a-block…

  • The Coptic Museum in Cairo, Egypt.

    Coptic Museum

    3.33 MILES

    This museum, founded in 1908, houses Coptic art from the earliest days of Christianity in Egypt right through to early Islam. It is a beautiful place, as…

  • The tomb of Ti at the Step pyramid of Djoser funerary complex in Saqqara, Egypt.

    Mastaba of Ti

    11.29 MILES

    The Mastaba of Ti was discovered by Auguste Mariette in 1865. This grand and detailed private tomb is not only Old Kingdom art at its best but also one of…

View more attractions

Nearby Cairo attractions

1. Perception Mural

0.33 MILES

Created by French-Tunisian street artist eL Seed, this mammoth mural of swirling Arabic calligraphy covers 50 buildings in Manshiyet Nasr and quotes St…

2. Mosque of Suleiman Pasha

0.8 MILES

Sulieman Pasha, governor of Cairo's Janissary troops, built this small Ottoman-style mosque in the early 16th century.

3. Mosque of Qaitbey

0.86 MILES

Sultan Qaitbey was as ruthless as any Mamluk sultan, but he was also something of an aesthete. His mosque, completed in 1474 as part of a much larger…

4. Carriage Museum

0.86 MILES

Houses a collection of carriages used by Egypt's royalty from Khedive Ismail to King Farouk. Like many of the Citadel museums though, it's often shut.

5. Northern Cemetery

0.88 MILES

The Northern Cemetery is the more interesting half of a vast necropolis known popularly as the City of the Dead. The titillating name refers to the fact…

6. National Military Museum

0.9 MILES

Mohammed Ali’s one-time Harem Palace is now the lavish National Military Museum. It was closed for restoration on our last visit though unlike the other…

7. Citadel

0.97 MILES

Sprawling over a limestone spur on the city's eastern edge, the Citadel, started by Saladin in 1176 as a fortification against the Crusaders, was home to…

8. Al Azhar Park

1 MILES

With funds from the Aga Khan Trust for Culture, what had been a mountain of garbage, amassed over centuries, was in 2005, almost miraculously, transformed…