The church is dedicated to Saint MarK; originally from Tunisia, Saint MarK started following Jesus as an apostle (this is why the Coptic religion is “apostolic” and has its own pope). According to tradition, the Last Supper was held in his house. After the Resurrection, Saint MarK went to Europe and only years later started preaching the Bible in Alexandria and the whole Egypt. Persecuted by the Romans, he was finally beheaded and his head was sent to Rome: only in 1967 it was brought back to Cairo where it is still kept inside the cathedral. Inside the church, some of the numerous icons represent Saint Mark; notice how is skin is dark, despite him coming from a land of fair-skinned people he was often depicted with a darker tan since his worshipper wished he was Egyptian. Next to his icon, in the right corner, you can find a Madonna of the XVIII century referred to as the “Egyptian Monna Lisa” due to her eyes following you. Now raise your heads to the ceiling, it’s entirely made of wood and in the shape of a boat, symbol of salvation. The pulpit is made of 15 columns, one in front symbolizing Jesus, 12 for the apostles and 2 for Saint Mark and Saint Luc (evangelists). If you wish to better understand what lies beneath your feet, go to the room on your right hand side. Here you can appreciate looking through a glass floor the round shape of one of the two towers, the palm trunks and the lack of foundations. 

The Arabs conquered Egypt in 641 ac, defeating the Romans. They were not used to living by the sea, so they changed the capital from Alexandria to Cairo, and built the first mosque right outside the Roman fortress that forms Old Cairo. Only the posterior section is original, the rest of the mosque has now been reconstructed since it was originally built in mud bricks that did not survive through the centuries. The following Arab dynasties started employing Christian architects that introduced them to the use of bricks.

After getting Jerusalem back from the crusaders, Salah ad-Din conquered Egypt in the XII century and built at the edge of Cairo the Citadel to host his court. A little car ride will take you to this vast fortress on a plateau at the borders of Cairo. From the Citadel the Sultan’s slaves, the Memluk, rebelled in the XIII century and took control of the country keeping the power until the Ottomans defeated them in 1517. We did not visit the Citadel inside, but from the outside you can admire the Alabaster Mosque of Mohamed Ali. Built in the style of the Blue Mosque in Istambul, it was commissioned by Mehmet Ali, an Albanian serving in the Turkish army that in 1805 took the power and founded a royal dynasty that continued up to King Faruk in 1952. Inside the Citadel, Mehmet built a royal palace that was used by his successors up to his nephew that took the court to the royal palace in downtown Cairo.