The Monastery of Saint Simon, also known as the Cave Church, is located
in the Mokattam mountain in southeastern Cairo, Egypt, in an area that
is known as ‘garbage city’ because of the large population of garbage
collectors or Zabbaleen that live there. The Zabbaleen are descendants
of farmers who started migrating from Upper Egypt to Cairo in the 1940s.
a community of garbage collectors who make their living collecting and
recycling 15,000 tons of garbage produced by Cairo's 17.8 million
residents.Fleeing poor harvests and poverty they came to the city looking for
work and set-up makeshift settlements around the city. Initially, they
stuck to their tradition of raising pigs, goats, chickens and other
animals, but eventually found collecting and sorting of waste produced
by the city residents more profitable. The Zabbaleen would sort through
household garbage, salvaging and selling things of value, while the
organic waste provided an excellent source of food for their animals. In
fact, this arrangement worked so well, that successive waves of
migrants came from Upper Egypt to live and work in the newly founded
garbage villages of Cairo.
Seven churches and chapels are hidden within a series of caves inside the Monastery; the Virgin Mary and St. Simon Cathedral is the largest church.
The Monastery also includes an education center, an area for children, as well as a school for the deaf. Now considered one of the largest Coptic monasteries in Egypt,
For years, the makeshift settlements of the Zabbaleen were moved around the city trying to avoid the municipal authorities. Finally, a large group of Zabbaleen settled under the cliffs of the Mokattam or Moquattam quarries at the eastern edge of the city, which has now grown from a population of 8,000 in the early 1980s, into the largest garbage collector community in Cairo, with approximately 30,000 Zabbaleen inhabitants.
Egypt is a Muslim-majority country, but the Zabbaleen are Coptic Christians, at least, 90 percent of them are. Christian communities are rare to find in Egypt, so the Zabbaleen prefer to stay in Mokattam within their own religious community even though many of them could afford houses elsewhere.
The local Coptic Church in Mokattam Village was established in 1975. After the establishment of the church, the Zabbaleen felt more secure in their location and only then began to use more permanent building materials, such as stone and bricks, for their homes. Given their previous experience of eviction from Giza in 1970, the Zabbaleen had lived in temporary tin huts up till that point. In 1976, a large fire broke out in Manshiyat Nasir, which led to the beginning of the construction of the first church below the Mokattam mountain on a site of 1,000 square meters. Several more churches have been built into the caves found in Mokattam, of which the Monastery of St. Simon the Tanner is the largest with a seating capacity of 20,000. In fact, the Cave Church of St. Simon in Mokattam is the largest church in the Middle East.
Seven churches and chapels are hidden within a series of caves inside the Monastery; the Virgin Mary and St. Simon Cathedral is the largest church.
The Monastery also includes an education center, an area for children, as well as a school for the deaf. Now considered one of the largest Coptic monasteries in Egypt,
For years, the makeshift settlements of the Zabbaleen were moved around the city trying to avoid the municipal authorities. Finally, a large group of Zabbaleen settled under the cliffs of the Mokattam or Moquattam quarries at the eastern edge of the city, which has now grown from a population of 8,000 in the early 1980s, into the largest garbage collector community in Cairo, with approximately 30,000 Zabbaleen inhabitants.
Egypt is a Muslim-majority country, but the Zabbaleen are Coptic Christians, at least, 90 percent of them are. Christian communities are rare to find in Egypt, so the Zabbaleen prefer to stay in Mokattam within their own religious community even though many of them could afford houses elsewhere.
The local Coptic Church in Mokattam Village was established in 1975. After the establishment of the church, the Zabbaleen felt more secure in their location and only then began to use more permanent building materials, such as stone and bricks, for their homes. Given their previous experience of eviction from Giza in 1970, the Zabbaleen had lived in temporary tin huts up till that point. In 1976, a large fire broke out in Manshiyat Nasir, which led to the beginning of the construction of the first church below the Mokattam mountain on a site of 1,000 square meters. Several more churches have been built into the caves found in Mokattam, of which the Monastery of St. Simon the Tanner is the largest with a seating capacity of 20,000. In fact, the Cave Church of St. Simon in Mokattam is the largest church in the Middle East.
Very informative, keep posting such good articles, it really helps to know about things.
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ReplyDeleteNice post you have shared here. I really enjoyed that place with my family. Last year I had gone there by booking a trip package from Imperialegypt.com. That was really an awesome place.