Museum · Coptic · 1910
Coptic art in one of Cairo’s most layered historic districts
Cairo
The Coptic Museum opened in Old Cairo in 1910 through the work of Marcus Simaika Pasha. It holds the world’s largest specialist collection of Coptic art and sits among historic churches, the Roman Babylon Fortress and nearby Amr Ibn al-As Mosque.
Get to know this place
Museum · Coptic · Built 1910
Among Old Cairo’s churches and the walls of Babylon Fortress, the Coptic Museum grew from an effort to preserve objects dispersed across churches, monasteries and archaeological sites. Marcus Simaika opened it in 1910; a new wing followed in 1947. Its setting keeps the collection close to the religious and architectural world from which much of it came.
Textiles, icons, carved wood and stone share the galleries. Changing symbols and motifs reveal how Coptic art drew on older Egyptian traditions and successive influences to express the life and beliefs of its communities.
Details worth pausing for
Coptic icons, textiles and manuscripts
Woodwork, stone sculpture and metalwork
The museum architecture within the Babylon Fortress area
Hours, prices and practical details
Prices in EGP and subject to change. Confirm with the venue before visiting.
Tips and things to know
Use Mar Girgis metro station; the entrance is minutes away on foot.
Allow around 90 minutes for the museum, and more if you plan to continue through Old Cairo.
After the museum, you can walk to the Hanging Church, Abu Serga and Ben Ezra Synagogue.
Good to know
Address and directions
Religions Complex, Mar Girgis Street, Old Cairo, Cairo
Nearest landmark: Babylon Fortress and the Hanging Church
Nearest metro: Mar Girgis
Take Metro Line 1 to Mar Girgis; the Old Cairo religious complex and museum are a very short walk from the station.
Get directions ↗The places closest to Coptic Museum, to make a day of it.
Ben Ezra SynagogueEveryday documents behind a synagogue's history.50 m · about 1 min on foot
Hanging ChurchA church above Babylon Fortress.50 m · about 1 min on foot
Abu Serga ChurchChurch and crypt in Old Cairo.100 m · about 1 min on foot
Distances and times are estimates from where each place sits on the map; the actual route may differ.
Stops close to each other, in an order we tried. Follow it as it is, or make it your own.
Photo: Berthold Werner · CC BY-SA 3.0
A suggested route · Faith & spirituality
A mosque, churches and a synagogue within a few steps of one another: the story of an Egypt where everyone lived side by side. A short, quiet route for a Friday or Saturday morning.
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