9 days/ 8 nights
Most of the world knows the story of the flight of the Holy Family but very few have been able to follow their path to safety in Egypt. Here is a tour that will entertain, educate and inspire you.
A sample tour is:
Day 01: Arrive Cairo, be met by our staff who will assist you with clearing immigration and customs and transfer you to a five star hotel for the evening.
Day 02: Today depart Cairo by air-conditioned vehicle and travel to Pelusium. An ancient Egyptian city on the easternmost mouth of the Nile River (long silted up). The Egyptians likely called it Sa'inu and also Per-Amon (House of Amon), whence perhaps the site's modern name, Tell Farama. It lies about 20 miles (32 km) southeast of Port Said, in the Sinai Peninsula. One of the first resting places of the Holy Family, the city has long been destroyed however today it is an active archeological dig with a First Century church being restored. Pelusium is also famous as the spot that Pompey was hanged and during the crusades King Baldwin died of ptomaine poisoning.
SPECIAL NOTE: Pelusium is an active dig and restoration project. It is rarely, if ever, visited by tourists. It is common to find artifacts lying on the surface and it is important to remember that these are NOT souvenirs for you to take home. Absconding with anything, even a handle from a broken first century olive oil jug could create a major problem for you with the antiquities police. Enjoy knowing the area is being saved and restored and that you are one of only a very few who have ever been there. Photos can be taken anywhere and those are the best permanent memory to bring home.
From Pelusium you will follow the trek of the Holy Family to Tel Basta (or Basta), a short distance from Zagazig, the main town in the Sharqiah Governorate, about 100 kms north-east of Cairo. Here, Jesus caused a water spring to well up from the ground, and His presence caused the idols to crumble, as foretold by the prophets of old. ("Behold the Lord rides on a swift cloud, and will come into Egypt and the idols of Egypt will totter at His Presence and the heart of Egypt will melt in the midst of it". Isaiah 19:1) The townsfolk, in consequence, turned malevolent and aggressive, whereupon the Holy Family turned their backs on the town and headed southwards.
You will visit the site of Belbeis (ancient Philippos) where they rested in the shade of a tree which came to be called, "The Virgin Mary's Tree'. Then you will follow their route to Mostorod (which came to be called, in those days, 'Al Mahamma') only about 10 kms away from Cairo. 'Al Mahamma' means 'the Bathing Place', a name given to the town because the Virgin Mary bathed the Christ Child and washed his clothes. It is worthy of note that, eventually, on their way back to Palestine, the Holy Family stopped once more at Mostorod and, this time, caused a spring to gush from the earth which still flows forth to the present day. O/N Cairo (B)
Day 03: Having left their mark on Belbeis, the Holy Family set off in a north-westerly direction and, reaching the small township of Meniet Samannoud (known also as Meniet Genah), they crossed the Nile to the city of Samanoud (or Jemnoty) in the Delta, where the local population received them with a kindness and hospitality that earned them deserved blessing.
There is in Samannoud, to this day, a large granite trough which, according to local belief, was used by the Virgin for kneading dough, and a water-well which the Christ Child Himself hallowed.
On to Sakha Town, the Coptic name of the town, 'Pekha-Issous', (vernacularized to Lysous) means, 'the foot of Jesus'; for the Holy Child's foot-print was marked, here, in bas-relief on a rock. The rock was preserved, but hidden for centuries for fear of robbery, and only unearthed again 13 years ago. The natural course of the Holy Family's journey from Samannoud to Sakha would have taken them through many of the towns and cities now lying in both the Governorates of Gharbia and Kafr El-Sheikh and, according to some folk traditions, through the Belqas wastelands as well. Their trail from Sakha, is recorded in the documentation of Pope Theophilus' vision, and attested to by Coptic practice in the Christian era. For it was to Wadi el-Natroun (Natroun Valley) that they now came (and you will visit), after crossing the Rosetta branch of the Nile to the western Delta and heading south into Wadi el-Natroun (then called Al Asqeet) in the Western Desert of Egypt. In the earliest decades of Christianity, the desert expanses of Wadi el-Natroun became the site of anchoritic settlement and, later, of many monasteries, in spiritual commemoration of the Holy Family's passage through the Valley. Return to Cairo to overnight. (B)
Day 04 and Day 05: Eventually, they left the desert behind them and made their way southwards, crossing the Nile to its eastern bank, and heading for Matariyah and Ain Shams (ancient Heliopolis, the site of the oldest 'university' in history called since earliest Pharaonic times, 'On'). Both these adjacent districts are outlying suburbs of present day Cairo, only 10 kms or so from the city center. At the time of the Holy Family's arrival there, Ain Shams was home to a large Jewish community, who had erected a temple - the Synagogue of Unias, - for their worship.
In Matariyah, a tree still stands to this day, still regularly visited, called "Mary's Tree", for the Family is believed to have rested in its shade. Here, too, the Infant Jesus caused water to flow from a spring, from which He drank and blessed, and in which the Virgin washed His clothes. She poured the washing water on to the ground, and from that spot, the fragrant balsam plant blossomed: besides the healing and pain-soothing properties of this balm, its essence is used in the preparation of the scents and perfumes of which the holy Chrism is composed.
Setting out next towards Old Cairo (in those days it was not called Old Cairo as it was new), the Holy Family rested for a while in Zeitoun, on their way; then proceeded along a course which traverses what are now crowded, bustling quarters of Cairo, within which the serene landmarks of an earlier Coptic heritage still stand, marking the paths the Holy Family followed.
In Central Cairo The Church of the Virgin Mary in Zuweila Alley. The Church of St George the Martyr. The Church of St. Mercurios Abu Sefein (he of the Two Swords). The Convent of the Virgin Mary. The Convent of St. George. In The Downtown District of Clot BeyI, The Cathedral of St. Mark in Azbekieh. Numerous churches attached to the Cairo headquarters of many of Egypt's monasteries. The Church of the Virgin Mary (known by the name Ezbaweya).
The area now called Old Cairo, known as Misr El Kadima, is among the most important locations visited by the Holy Family where the spiritual impact of their presence is most felt still; though their stay was brief, for the Governor of what was then Fustat enraged by the tumbling down of idols at Jesus' approach sought to kill the Child. But they took shelter from his wrath in a cave above which, in later years, the Church of Abu Serga (St Sergious) was built. This, and the whole area of the Fort of Babylon, is a destination of pilgrimage not only for the Egyptians but for Christians from around the world. An air of piety and devotion pervades the whole district.
Here, too, it is useful to list the sites which visitors to the Fortress of Babylon section of Old Cairo take in: The Church of Abu Serga and the Crypt of the Holy Family beneath it. Al-Muallaqa (Hanging Church), dedicated to the Virgin Mary, Patriarchal See of the Coptic Church in the early centuries. The Church of St. Barbara. The Church of St. George (in the Palace of Waxworks). The Church of the Virgin, identified by its alternative name of Qasriet Al-Rihan (Basil Pot). The Convent of St. George. The Coptic Museum and the ramparts of the Fortress of Babylon. The Greek Orthodox Church of St George. The Jewish Synagogue of Ben Ezra.
The Fustat section of Old Cairo, which lies west of the Mosque of Amr Ibn'l Aas, includes: The Church of St Mercurios Abu Sefein (he of the Two Swords). The Church of Abba Shenouda. The Church of the Virgin Mary of Al-Demshiria. The Convent of Abu Sefein. The Church of the Virgin of Babylon El Darag. The Church of Saints Abakir and Yohanna. The Church of Prince Tadros Al Mishriqi. The Church of the Archangel Mikhail (known also as Al Malak AI-Qibli-or "Southern Angel'). The Church of St. Mena in Zahraa Misr El Kadima. O/N Cairo (B)
Day 06: Today we will depart Cairo and follow their path south. After their short, but all-too-felt, stay in Old Cairo, the Holy Family moved in a southerly direction, reaching the modern Cairo suburb of Maadi which, in earliest Pharaonic times, was an outlying district of Memphis, the capital of Egypt then; and, at Maadi, they boarded a sailing boat which carried them up the Nile towards southern Egypt. The historic church built upon the spot from which they embarked, also dedicated to the Virgin, is further identified by the denominative, 'Al-Adaweya', the Virgin's Church 'of the Ferry'. (In fact, the name of that now modern suburb, Maadi, derives from the Arabic word which means 'the Crossing Point'). The stone steps leading down to the River's bank, and believed to have been used by the Holy Family, are accessible to pilgrims through the Church courtyard.
An event of miraculous importance occurred on Friday the 3rd of the Coptic month of Baramhat the 12th of March 1976 AD. A Holy Bible of unknown provenance was carried by the lapping ripples of the Nile to the bank below the Church. It was open to the page of Isaiah 19:25 the page declaring, "Blessed be Egypt My People". The Bible is now behind glass in the Sanctuary of the virgin in the Church for all to see. (While the Holy Family traveled by sailboat we will use an air-conditioned vehicle to follow their route).
The sailboat docked at the village of Deir Al-Garnous (the later site of the Monastery of Arganos) 10 kms west of Ashnein el Nassara (a small village near the town of Maghagha). Outside the western wall of the Church of the Virgin there, a deep well is believed to have provided the Holy Family with the water they needed.
They went on from there to a spot later named Abai Issous, "the Home of Jesus", the site of present-day Sandafa village, east of Al-Bahnassa which, itself, stand some 17 kms west of the town of Beni Mazar. On towards the south they went from Bahnassa to Samalout and crossed the Nile again from that town to the spot on the east bank of the River where the Monastery of the Virgin now stands upon Gabal El-Tair ('Bird Mountain') east of Samalout, 2 kms south of Meadeyat Beni Khaled. It is known by this name (Gabal El-Tair) because thousands of birds gather there. The Holy Family rested in the cave which is now located inside the ancient church there. Gabal El-Tair is also called Gabal El-Kaf ('Palm Mountain'). Coptic tradition maintains that, as the Holy Family rested in the shade of the Mountain, Jesus stretched His little hand to hold back a rock which was about to detach itself from the mountain-side and fall upon them. The imprint of His palm is still visible.
When they resumed their travels, the Holy Family passed a laurel tree a stone's throw south of Gabal El-Tair, along the pathway flanking the Nile and leading from the Mountain to Nazlet Ebeid and the New Minia Bridge of today. It is claimed that this tree bowed to worship the Lord Christ - glory be to Him - as He was passing. The configuration of the Tree is, indeed, unique: all its branches incline downwards, trailing on the ground, then turn upwards again, covered in a cloak of green leaves. They call the tree, Al Abed - 'The Worshipper'. O/N Minya (B)
Day 07: Once more crossing the Nile, back to its west bank, the Holy Family traveled southwards to the town of Al-Ashmounein or Hermopolis Magna but it seems that they did not tarry long there. Leaving behind them the rubble of fallen idols, they continued still in a southerly direction, for another 20 kms or so to Dairout Al-Sharif (which, like Al-Ashmounein, had an alternative Greek name: Philes); and thence to Qussqam (or Qost-Qoussia). Here, too, the recorded events testify that the townsfolk were infuriated when the stone statue of their local deity cracked and fell, and evicted the Holy Family from the town. A historically recorded incident dating to that period refers to the devastation of Qussqam, and Coptic tradition asserts that the ruin that befell the town was the consequence of its violent rejection of the gentle visitors. We have an entirely different story in the warm welcome with which the holy refugees were met at their next stop at Meir (or Meira) only 7 kms west of Qoussia. Here, they found only consideration and hospitality wherever they went, for which treatment the town and its people were signally blessed. Now it was time for the Holy Family to set out for what is, arguably, the most meaningful destination of all in the land of Egypt, the place where there would be "an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt". Gabal (Mount) Qussqam, which takes its name from the town nearby that was laid waste, is 327 kms south of Cairo, and stand in the Governorate of Assiut. The Monastery of Al-Muharraq nestles against the western foothills of the Mountain. It was built around the area where the Holy Family remained just over six months. Their time was spent mainly in a cave which became, in the Coptic era, the altar of the Church of Virgin Mary, built at the western end of the Monastery compound. The altar stone was the resting place of the Child Jesus during the months He dwelt there.
The whole area, the Monastery and its surroundings is redolent of the Coptic Christian ethos. So hallowed are its intimations, that the Copts of Egypt named it the Second Bethlehem. It was here, at the very spot where Al-Muharraq Monastery stands, that the Angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, and said "Arise, and take the young Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel; for they are dead which sought the young Child's life" (Matthew 2:20&21).
And so they set forth on the return journey. The route they took deviated slightly from the one by which they had come. It took them to Mount Dronka, 8 kms south-west of the city of Assiut, and their blessing of this location was commemorated in the Christian era by the building of the mountain-top Monastery of Dronka. O/N Minya (B)
Day 08: Today we return to Cairo and overnight. (B)
Day 09: Our staff will transfer you to the airport and assist with departure formalities and checking in for your international departure. (B)
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