Part of our tour on the last day included something I had never thought to do before in my life, much less on a trip to Cairo. I visited a mosque, a Church, and a synagogue back to back in the same day.
The first mosque I ever went inside was the Blue Mosque in Istanbul several months ago. It was very crowded and you we didn't stay there very long. When we went inside the Mohamed Ali Mosque in Cairo, it was pretty open. We even took our shoes off and sat on the floor while our guide told us about it. The mosque was actually designed by a Jewish architect, which is something I would not have thought possible given what you see with Islam today. He added his own personal religious touch to the muslim building. In the center of the grand dome is a Star of David.
The Church we visited is called the Hanging Church. It got it's name because it's built on top of an old roman fortress. When the guide told us the name of the emperor who had built the original fort, Napian, it sounded like he was telling us Napoleon. This of course completely confused us. He had just finished telling us the church was built in 3 AD, and then he says, "on top of Napoleon's fort". This almost made us toss everything we had been told by this guy out the window, until he clarified Nap-i-an, not Nap-o-leon. He spoke english pretty well but the accent was a little difficult at times. The Church itself was full of Icon paintings. One of them is of my third favorite Saint, St. George the dragon slayer. My favorite of course is St. James.
After the Church we went to Ben Ezra Synagogue. The synagogue actually used to be a church, but the Christians sold it to the Jews in the 800's. They don't let you take pictures inside the Synagogue which is unfortunate, because I could have taken some good ones. I won't try to describe it. A picture is worth a thousand words, so I suggest you google it and see some of it. If you ever go to Cairo, it'd help to take a guide to show you where the place is. The sign out front isn't very big.
Part of our tour on the last day included something I had never thought to do before in my life, much less on a trip to Cairo. I visited a mosque, a Church, and a synagogue back to back in the same day. 
The first mosque I ever went inside was the Blue Mosque in Istanbul several months ago. It was very crowded and you we didn't stay there very long. When we went inside the Mohamed Ali Mosque in Cairo, it was pretty open. We even took our shoes off and sat on the floor while our guide told us about it. The mosque was actually designed by a Jewish architect, which is something I would not have thought possible given what you see with Islam today. He added his own personal religious touch to the muslim building. In the center of the grand dome is a Star of David.
The Church we visited is called the Hanging Church. It got it's name because it's built on top of an old roman fortress. When the guide told us the name of the emperor who had built the original fort, Napian, it sounded like he was telling us Napoleon. This of course completely confused us. He had just finished telling us the church was built in 3 AD, and then he says, "on top of Napoleon's fort". This almost made us toss everything we had been told by this guy out the window, until he clarified Nap-i-an, not Nap-o-leon. He spoke english pretty well but the accent was a little difficult at times. The Church itself was full of Icon paintings. One of them is of my third favorite Saint, St. George the dragon slayer. My favorite of course is St. James.
After the Church we went to Ben Ezra Synagogue. The synagogue actually used to be a church, but the Christians sold it to the Jews in the 800's. They don't let you take pictures inside the Synagogue which is unfortunate, because I could have taken some good ones. I won't try to describe it. A picture is worth a thousand words, so I suggest you google it and see some of it. If you ever go to Cairo, it'd help to take a guide to show you where the place is. The sign out front isn't very big. 
So you left us hanging there. Who is your 2nd favorite saint? Perhaps Saint Arnold, the patron saint of Brewers. Maybe Saint Benedict of Nursia, the patron of civil engineers?
ReplyDeleteBoth are very good choices. But I always wanted to be called Dr. Jones, so maybe St. Luke, 'our beloved physician'.
ReplyDelete