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Al-Ahram Weekly 25 Nov. - 1 Dec. 1999 Issue No. 457 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 25 Nov. - 1 Dec. 1999 Issue No. 457
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Holy route
By Rehab Saad
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Opened only a few weeks ago, this official Ministry of Tourism site is one of the most interesting destinations on the web dealing with the flight of the Holy Family to Egypt.
"In the framework of Egypt's celebrations for the new millennium, we have created a big tourist site on the World Wide Web that deals with the trip of the Holy Family in Egypt," said Dr Mamdouh El-Beltagui, the minister of tourism.
He added that the Internet user can choose from nine languages to surf the site -- English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Greek, Japanese and Arabic. "The site has several mirror sites. One of them, in the United States, is there to face the increasing number of expected visits," El-Beltagui said.
The site is nicely designed and professionally laid out, with a main page showing the Holy Family's route with the Pyramids and the Sphinx in the background and a map indicating the places they passed through on their journey.
According to tourism officials, the information provided on the site, together with the mapping of the route of the Holy Family from Farama in the north-east of Sinai to Al-Muharraq Monastery in the southern Nile Valley, is approved by Pope Shenouda III. "When the groundwork of this vast project is completed by the beginning of the third millennium, many of the believers in the one God will come to us," El-Beltagui said in his introduction of the site.
The site is full of excellent photos and icons from different churches and monasteries which the Holy Family passed. In the section dedicated to Zaranik and Farama there are wonderful photos of the ruins of Flousseya Church in Zaranik, west of Al-Arish.
More photos show various sites connected to the Holy Family, including the Church of the Holy Family at Tel Basta, the Church of the Virgin Mary at Mostord, Al-Shaheed Abanoub Church in Sammanoud, Christ's footprints on a stone, the Virgin Mary Church at Sakha in Kafr Al-Sheikh, the Anba Beshoy and Al-Sorian monasteries in Wadi Al-Natroun and the Virgin Mary tree at Matariya, said to be one of the spots where Mary sat to rest.
One of the most important sections of the site is the page dedicated to Old Cairo. This contains details of many of the places that have traces of the Holy Family including the Church of St George, the Church of Abu Seifein, the Convent of the Virgin Mary, the Cathedral of St Mark, the Church of the Virgin Mary, the fortress of Babylon, the Church of Abu Serga, the 'Hanging' Church and the Church of St Barbara.
The site is a valuable reference point for those interested in the flight of the Holy Family. Its only weakness is the map provided at the end -- it is well designed, but the writing is unclear.
