Monastery of Saint Simon

Monastery of Saint Simon

The Monastery of St. Simeon of Kharaz, or Mokattam Hill, is a distinctive archaeological landmark, in Cairo Governorate, specifically in the Mokattam area, characterized by a beautiful architectural character, as the front facade of the two-domed monastery contains a large painting with religious drawings of Jesus Christ, and there is a unique church built in the inner cavity of the mountain, near the cave where Monastery of Saint Simon is buried, and the area is a destination for tourists and locals who come to pray, explore the place and take souvenir photos.

The importance of the Monastery of Saint Simon

Monastery of Saint Simon is one of the most important monasteries in the world, and it is carved inside Mokattam Mountain, and the monastery contains 4 churches carved inside Mokattam Mountain, namely the Cathedral of Our Lady and St. Samaan Al-Kharaz, the Church of Bishop Abram ibn Zaraa Al-Syrian, the Church of St. Mark and the Hall of St. Samaan Al-Kharaz, which can accommodate two thousand people, and the Church of Bishop Paula, the first tourist.

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The name of that monastery goes back to one of the saints of Christianity, St. Simeon Al-Kharaz, as the story of the construction of this monastery dates back to the days of the Fatimid Caliph Al-Moez, who had a Jewish minister who was very hostile to Christians, and in one of the literary sessions that the caliph was holding, the Coptic patriarch, Ibram bin Zaraa Al-Syrian, attended with a group of bishops, in which they discussed with Jews about religious matters, and during the session one of the bishops accused the Jews of ignorance, which made the Jewish minister angry and affected him and decided to answer the Christians.

And

The Jewish minister searched until he found a verse in the New Testament of the Bible that says: "If you had faith like a mustard seed, you would say to this mountain to move from here to there, and it would move, and nothing would be impossible for you." The minister went and presented it to the caliph, and the caliph wanted to get rid of the mountain east of Cairo, i.e. Mokattam Mountain, so he was surprised by the proposal.

Location of the Monastery of St. Simeon

The Monastery of St. Simeon the Tanner, also known as the Cave Church, is located in the Mokattam Mountains, southeast of Cairo, Egypt. The area is known as “Garbage City,” or Zabbaleen in Arabic.

Zabbaleen City & the garbage city Cairo

The Zabbaleen are descended from farmers who began migrating from Upper Egypt to Cairo in the 1940s. Fleeing poor harvests and poverty, they came to the city in search of work and established makeshift settlements around it. Initially, they adhered to their traditions of raising pigs, goats, chickens, and other animals, but they eventually found collecting and sorting the waste produced by the city's residents more profitable. The Zabbaleen would sort through household garbage, salvaging and selling valuable items, while the organic waste provided an excellent source of food for their animals. This arrangement worked so well that successive waves of migrants came from Upper Egypt to live and work in the newly established garbage villages of Cairo.

For years, the Zabbaleen's makeshift settlements were moved around the city in an attempt to evade municipal authorities. Finally, a large group of garbage collectors settled at the foot of the Mokattam quarries on the eastern edge of the city, growing from 8,000 in the early 1980s to the largest garbage collection area in Cairo, with nearly 30,000 garbage collectors.

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Egypt is a predominantly Muslim country, but the garbage collectors are Coptic Christians. At least 90 percent of them are Christian. Christian communities are rare in Egypt, so the garbage collectors prefer to remain in Mokattam within their religious community, even though many could buy homes elsewhere.

The local Coptic church in Mokattam was established in 1975. After the church opened, the garbage collectors felt more secure in their location. They began using more permanent building materials for their housing, such as stone and brick. Having previously been evicted from Giza in 1970, the garbage collectors had lived in makeshift shacks made of corrugated iron until then. In 1976, a large fire broke out in Manshiyat Nasser, leading to the construction of the first church at the foot of Mokattam Mountain, covering an area of ​​1,000 square meters. Several churches were built in the caves of Mokattam. Consequently, the Monastery of Saint Simeon, also known as the Monastery of the Tanner, became the largest, with a capacity of 20,000 people. The Church of Saint Simon in Mokattam is generally considered the largest in the Middle East.

Churches of the Monastery of Saint Simon

The Church of Father Abraham ibn Zara the Syrian
This church is named after Father Abraham ibn Zara the Syrian, the 62nd Pope of the See of Saint Mark, in commemoration of the miracle of the moving of Mokattam Hill, which occurred during his papacy. He introduced the three-day fast, which the Church observed at the time of the miracle. Prior to this, he introduced the Nativity Fast, extending it from 40 to 43 days. He also introduced the Nine-Day Fast to the Coptic Church. Furthermore, he was the one who abolished the practice of enslaving women, which was widespread at the time.

Archaeologists discovered the Church of Father Abraham during cave excavations in the area in 1992. They then expanded and renovated it, transforming it into a church.

The church holds a Divine Liturgy, films, and spiritual meetings every Thursday.

In front of the altar, to the right, the church houses the relics of Saint Simon. His body was discovered and brought in 1991 from the Church of the Virgin Mary in Babylon al-Daraj, Old Cairo. It was then transferred to his church on July 11, 1992, with a church document from Anba Mattaous, Bishop of Old Cairo at the time, under the supervision of Pope Shenouda III.

In 1974, a clearly carved image of the Virgin Mary holding the Christ Child was discovered on the church's ceiling, to the right. This image, untouched by human hands, was later restored in 1994. The church is also famous for its pottery vessel belonging to Saint Simon, discovered alongside his relics. All of this testifies to God's faithful promises, which continue to work. St. Simon the Tanner Hall and St. Mark's Church.

Of course

This enormous cave was discovered in 1974. It was filled with hundreds of tons of stone up to its ceiling (17 meters above the ground). It was later converted into the St. Simon the Tanner Hall and St. Mark's Church.

The cave had only one sloping entrance, making it difficult to pass through (the large glass window that now overlooks the area).

In 1991, after seven years of continuous prayer asking God for a way to enter the cave, work began on finding a way in. This involved removing the enormous quantities of rubble and demolishing 140,000 tons of stone from the cave walls and floor.