The Hanging Church

The Hanging Church or (Saint Virgin Mary's Coptic Orthodox Church) is an Arabic name called (Al-Muallaqa) named for its location on the ruins of two old towers from Babylon fortress and its nave is suspended over a passageway, After that it was called "staircase church" because of the twenty-nine steps that lead to the entrance.

The Hanging Church takes the shape of a basilica with a wooden roof in the shape of Noah's Ark. its interior includes about 13 flourishing pillars which shed light on the stories of Jesus and his 12 apostles, The church was designed as a rectangle shape, it is 79.05 by 67.24 feet and 24.10 by 20.50 meters .

It consists of Entrance is known as The narthex,The nave and the two aisles, The three Sanctuaries Or three( haikals) within the eastern section of the church. The central one is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, the northern (left) to Saint George, and the southern (right) one to Saint John the Baptist, inside the church There are 110 icons, the oldest of which dates back to the 8th Century, but most of them date to the 18th Century. In 1898 A.D

There are 7 altars in the Church, 3 of them situated in the main sanctuary, and 3 located in the right sanctuary, among which is the altar of Tecla Hymanot, the Ethiopian Saint, and another that was recently discovered in the northern side.

The French monk Vansleb, who was sent to Egypt in 1671 by King Louis XIV in order to study the state of the churches and the monasteries of Egypt, mentioned that he had seen on one of the walls of the Hanging Church, inscriptions written by the hand of the great Muslim commander Amr Ibn El-As, asking the Muslim people to treat this church with respect.