The Hanging Church is located in the Old Cairo district, in the important archaeological area of Coptic Cairo, as it is close to the Amr Ibn Al-Aas Mosque, the Ibn Ezra Synagogue, the Church of Saint Mina next to the Babylon Fortress, the Church of Martyr Mercurius (Abu Sefein), and many other churches
It was called the Hanging because it was built on two of the ancient towers of the Roman fortress[?] (Fortress of Babylon), which had been built by Emperor Trajan in the second century AD. Roman fortress in Coptic Cairo (Old Cairo); Her plate is hanging over a corridor. The church is approached by twenty-nine steps; The first travelers to Cairo called it the “Church of the Stairs”. The ground surface has risen by about six meters since Roman times, so most of the Roman tower is buried underground, reducing the visual impact of the church's elevated position. T he entrance from the street is through iron gates under a pointed stone arch. Then the double-towered facade of the 19th century is seen outside a narrow courtyard decorated with modern biblical designs. Up the steps and through the entrance there is another small courtyard that leads to the outside terrace of the eleventh century.
The church was built on the ruins of a place where it is said that the Holy Family (the Virgin Mary, the Christ Child, and Saint Joseph the Carpenter) during the three years they spent in Egypt escaping from Herod[?], the ruler of Palestine, who had ordered the killing of children for fear of a prophecy he had received. Some see it as a place for a cell (a place of seclusion) in which a woman monk lived, in one of the rocky vaults excavated in the place. The church was renewed several times during the Islamic era, once during the caliphate of Harun al-Rashid, when the patriarch Anba Morcos asked the governor for permission to renew the church. And once during the reign of Al-Aziz Billah the Fatimid, who allowed Patriarch Ephraim the Syrian to renovate all the churches of Egypt and repair what had been destroyed. And a third time in the era of apparent to cherish the religion of God. It has been the seat of many patriarchs since the eleventh century, and Patriarch Christodoulos was the first to take the Hanging Church as the seat of the Pope of Alexandria. The trials of the priests, the bishops, and the trials of heretics as well. It is considered an important shrine for the Copts, due to its historical antiquity, the connection of the place with the Holy Family, and its presence among churches and monasteries[?] for venerable saints, making it easier to visit them.
The facade of the church is located on the western side on Mary Gerges Street, and it has two floors. There is a fountain in front of it. It was built in the famous basilica style, consisting of 3 wings, a front hall and a structure divided into 3 parts. It is rectangular in shape, and is relatively small, with dimensions of about 23.5 meters in length, 18.5 meters in width and 9.5 meters in height. It consists of a main nave and two small wings, and between them eight columns on each side, and between the nave and the northern wing, there is a row of three columns with large pointed arches, and the columns separating the wings are of marble, except for one of black basalt. Column capitals "Corinthian" style. On the eastern side of the church there are three structures[?]: the middle bears the name of the Virgin Mary, the right is the name of Saint John the Baptist, and the left is named after Saint Mary George. In front of these structures, there are wooden veils, the most important of which is the middle veil made of ebony inlaid with transparent ivory, dating back to the twelfth or thirteenth century, and inscribed on it with beautiful geometric shapes and crosses[?], and above it are icons depicting Christ on a throne, and to his right the Virgin Mary and the angel Gabriel and Saint Peter, and to his left John the Baptist and the angel Michael and Saint Paul, and at the top of the altar inside this temple there is a wooden canopy based on four pillars, and behind it is the seating platform for the priests. In the right wing of the church, fragments of Egyptian national newspapers were hung on one of the walls, narrating events and scenes from the modern history of the church, related to the Copts in Egypt, perhaps the most important of which is the appearance of the Virgin Mary in her church in the Zeitoun neighborhood in the wake of the defeat of the 1967 war. After the ordination of Pope Christodoulos, he moved from St. Mark's Church in Alexandria to Egypt, and took Al-Ma'alaqa Church in Daher Al-Fustat as his headquarters. He also renewed the Church of St. Markrios and made it a major cathedral and the center of his throne, and also made the Church of the Virgin Mary in the Al-Aram neighborhood his headquarters, with the consent of the Bishop of Babylon. As for the reason for that, it is the transfer of the greatness of the city of Alexandria to the city of Cairo, and the large number of Christians there, and its connection with the government. So the Pope appointed a bishop of Alexandria in the name of the representative of the Coptic Church, “Dictionary of the Church Fathers and Saints,” the dictionary of the Church’s fathers and saints.
The Hanging Church is dedicated to the Virgin and contains sanctuaries for her and Saints John the Baptist and George. The church held many important ceremonies for the Coptic hierarchy in Cairo. These include the selection and burial of the patriarchs, the former occurring from the eleventh to the fourteenth centuries while the latter only between the eleventh and twelfth centuries, as well as the consecration of sacred oil and judgment of heresy trials; Choosing the date of Easter for each year was another important procedure that was held during. These operations are held in the Hanging Church due to the movement of the patriarchal seat in the eleventh century to Cairo from Alexandria.