The Mosque of Amr ibn al-As, or Taj al-Jawame’ (lit. Crown of Mosques), or Masjid Ahl ar-Rayah (lit. Mosque of the Banner Bearers), or Jame’ al-Ateeq (lit. the Old Mosque), was originally built in 641–642 AD, as the center of the newly founded capital of Egypt, Fustat. The original structure was the first mosque ever built in Egypt and the whole of Africa. For 600 years, the mosque was also an important center of Islamic learning until Al-Muizz‘s Al-Azhar Mosque in Islamic Cairo replaced it. Through the twentieth century, it was the fourth largest mosque in the Islamic world. read more…
Saint Virgin Mary’s Coptic Orthodox Church (Church of Mother of God Saint Mary in Egyptian Babylon), also known as the Hanging Church, is one of the oldest churches in Egypt which dates to the third century. It belongs to the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. read more…
