Monastery of St. George (Old Cairo)

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Monastery of St. George (Deir Al-Banat) in Old (Coptic) Cairo, Egypt is a monastery of the Church of Alexandria for women. It is adjacent to the Church of St. George (Mar Girgis), the seat of the Greek Patriarch of Alexandria.

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History

The origins of the monastery are obscure but are believe to date from the seventh century. The main hall of the monastery dates from the tenth century and displays a tall door, some 7.6 meters, that leads to the interior of the building. Off the main hall is a room, set aside as a shrine, that according to tradition contains the chains that were placed on St. George as part of the tortures to which he was sentenced after his trial under the Persian King Dadianos.

The nuns who now occupy the monastery live on the upper floors of the monastery building.

In 1995, a library, containing an audio-visual section, was established in the monastery that contains many books and manuscripts.

Sources