In the Gospel of Matthew, the Virgin Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus escape from Palestine into Egypt out of fear from persecution of Herod the Great. The Holy Family traveled all the way to Assiut, and on their way back home spent several weeks in Old Cairo. Saints Sergius and Bacchus Church stand traditionally on the spot where the Holy Family rested at the end of their journey in Egypt. They may have even lived here while Joseph worked at the fortress.

Known in the Arab world as al-Muallaqah “The Suspended” church, and by Christians as the Hanging Church its Cairo’s most famous Coptic church. The Church commemorates the Virgin Mary, and is named for its location above a gatehouse of Babylon Fortress, the Roman fortress in Old Cairo with its interior-nave suspended over a passage.

The Christian Quarters occupying the northwest quadrant of the four quarter’s inside the walled Old City of Jerusalem, is the epicenter of Christianity worldwide. It’s the first part of Old Jerusalem most pilgrims visit, as it lies beyond the Jaffa Gate, an entrance which traditionally has welcomed Christian pilgrims for centuries.

There are two important traditions related to Bethphage, a village at the time of Jesus on the eastern slope of Mount of Olives. This is the holy place where Jesus sent two of his disciples to fetch a colt and an ass that he would use for his entry into Jerusalem (Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-10) , “saying unto them, Go into the village over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me” (Matthew 21:2). Bethphage is also the site where Jesus met Martha, and after her sister Mary (John 11:17-34) upon his return from exile from Jordan to resurrect Lazarus.