Church of St. George

The church of Mar Girgis (St. George) is in the Orthodox neighborhood of Cairo, next to the Mar Girgis station subway. The church dates from the tenth century, but it was rebuilt in the twentieth century following a fire that destroyed most of the old structure. It is a Greek Orthodox church, and one of the few round churches that still remains in the East. That's because it was built over one of the towers of the fortress of Babylon, which was round. The stairs leading up to the church were built with old Babylonian stones, and you can see the image of St George fighting the dragon. It has been a Greek Orthodox church since the fifteenth century.