Babylon Fortress

Babylon Fortress is a Roman stronghold in Coptic Cairo, rebuilt under Diocletian around 300 AD, with the Hanging Church built over its southern gate. The walls are free to see right outside Mar Girgis metro station (Line 1); the inner parts come with a Coptic Museum ticket.

Before there was a Cairo, Rome controlled the Nile crossing here from a fort called Babylon. The first fort dates from Emperor Trajan's reign, and most of the walls and towers standing now come from the rebuilding under Diocletian around 300 AD. In 641 the Arab army of Amr ibn al-As laid siege to it for months, and when it surrendered the road to the conquest of Egypt lay open.

The fortress then became the core of Coptic Cairo, with churches built inside it and on top of its walls. The best known, the Hanging Church (al-Muallaqa), got its name because it sits over the fortress's southern gate; a glass panel in the floor lets you look down at the Roman gatehouse. The round Church of St George stands on one of the fortress towers.

What you see today is at street level beside the metro: two massive round towers of stone and brick, part of the water gate, and lengths of wall winding through the Coptic quarter.

What to see

• The two round Roman towers at the Coptic Museum entrance
• The Roman gate under the Hanging Church
• The Church of St George, built on a fortress tower
• Walls running through the lanes of the Coptic quarter

Visiting

• Opening hours: outer walls visible any time; churches and the museum roughly 9 am – 4 pm
• Tickets: the walls are free; the Coptic Museum charges entry
• Getting there: Cairo Metro Line 1 to Mar Girgis; the towers are at the station exit
• Nearby: Coptic Museum, Al-Fustat (Old Cairo), Mosque of Amr ibn al-As