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Al-Ahram Weekly 17 - 23 February 2000 Issue No. 469 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 17 - 23 February 2000 Issue No. 469
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Focus Profile Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Mixing adventure and devotion
By Rehab Saad
Come the first of June -- believed to be the date on which the Holy Family reached Egyptian territory during their flight from Palestine -- Egypt will have a new flavour of tourism on their hands. The wealth of meaningful sites associated with the flight of the Holy Family through Egypt had long been neglected, despite the deep interest they hold for religious travellers; but in the bustle of millennium fever, attention long overdue has finally been paid a route of the utmost significance.
The Ministry of Tourism and various travel agents are already encouraging travellers to come to Egypt in time for the June launch of a new kind of tourist product (to use the jargon of the travel industry) -- tours that enable visitors to follow in the footsteps of the Holy Family. The route, which started in northern Sinai and ended at what is now known as Deir Al-Moharraq (in the desert west of Sohag), was charted by the Papal office and travellers can now trace the steps of the Holy Family to places hitherto largely inaccessible or in dire need of restoration.
June is not only the anniversary of the Holy Family's arrival in Egypt -- it is also an excellent time of the year for travelling. To this end, itineraries have been specially prepared with the religious trek forming the centre-piece of a holiday combining sightseeing, culture, history -- and devotion. Some sites are within easy reach of well-known Pharaonic sites, while others are way off the beaten track.
Jesus, Mary and Joseph are believed to have stayed in the Nile valley for nearly four years, the path of their travels leading them through villages, over agricultural lands, across tributaries and up the Nile. The charted route passes through such places as Tel Basta and Sakha (in the Delta), Wadi Al-Natroun (in the Western Desert) and Gabal Al-Tair, Ashmunein and Deirut (in Upper Egypt). In an immense restoration effort, a number of sites and areas along the route of the Holy Family have been restored and upgraded through projects undertaken by the Ministry of Tourism, the Ministry of Culture, the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) and numerous independent organisations.
The tangle of shops, streets and ancient buildings that comprise the area known as "Old Cairo" is one of the most well-known sites associated with the Holy Family, but has long been in a state of deterioration. The wealth of Islamic, Coptic and Jewish monuments concentrated in Old Cairo make it a major stop for the religious traveller and the whole area is astir amidst a massive upgrade aimed at developing Old Cairo into a rich religious and historical complex.
Conservation efforts in Old Cairo began some three years ago, when restoration projects at the church of Al-Moallaqa (the "Hanging Church"), the Amr Ibn Al-As mosque and the synagogue of Ben-Ezra began. A visit to Old Cairo today is an aesthetic affront, with bricks and mortar on the road, scaffolding propped against buildings, piles of debris, drainage repairs and teams of workers plying the streets.
Top photos show the reconstruction of the surronding wall of the Old Roman fortress and the upgrading of the shops near the Mari Girgis station in Old Cairo. Photos on top left show the site before restoration whereas those on top right show it after restoration.
Restoration work is under way at the Coptic Museum, in the heart of the old Roman fortress, where a new outer wall is nearing completion. At the church of Abu-Sarga -- famous as one of the places where the Holy Family sought refuge in a cave beneath the altar -- excessive subsoil water is being drained and the columns of the church will be reinforced. The walls, floors and ceiling will also be repaired or replaced.
Apart from the restoration of historical monuments being carried out by the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Tourism is spending roughly LE15 million on projects developing the Old Cairo area.
"This whole project is a jump-start for Old Cairo," said Minister of Tourism Mamdouh El-Beltagui. "Within a confined area are the relics of the three monotheistic religions -- Islam, Christianity and Judaism -- reflecting Egypt's spirit of tolerance towards different cultures and religious beliefs."
Transportation into Old Cairo is being made more accessible; the bus station, located beside Amr Ibn Al-As mosque, has been renovated and the existing subway station will be suitably developed. Access routes, including the streets of Mar Girgis, Al-Imam, Ben Al-Adyera, Qasr Al-Shame' and Hassan Al-Anwar, are being cleared of rubble and upgraded, their buildings repainted.
Mona Zakariya, the engineer of the project, is enthused about the progress. "Nobody ever believed that Old Cairo could be so developed. It is a dream," she said. "Old Cairo is like Jerusalem, a holy city in which everything should be preserved. At the beginning of the project we debated whether to develop the buildings alone or upgrade the whole area; buildings, people and activities. We finally decided that the area was worthy of the greatest attention and a massive development project was put into action."
The somewhat hackneyed term "face lift" truly applies in this case: Plastered and dirty walls have been refaced with rough stone; houses and shops in need of repair are being fixed up; and the Greek orthodox cemetery walls have been suitably refurbished -- all at government expense. A market rivalling that of Khan Al-Khalili -- the domed "Al-Fustat market" -- is being set up to draw more visitors to the area and will have a cafeteria and toilet facilities. Begun in May 1999, the market is expected to be completed ahead of the June 2000 deadline.
The Church of the Holy Virgin on the bank of the Nile at Maadi -- where the Holy Family hired a boat to travel to Upper Egypt
"At first there were some reservations about the project," explains Zakariya. "Residents and shop-owners in Old Cairo were afraid that we might demolish their premises. [Residents] could not believe that we were there in their interests, as well as the historical interest of the area -- that the project to upgrade Old Cairo would be beneficial to them."
Zakariya pointed out that in light of the changes, some shop-owners have decided to convert their activities to more tourist-oriented ones. "Once they understood our goals, they became enthusiastic. You will not believe it, but the value of land and buildings [in the area] has already multiplied, and the quality of service, telephones and electricity has improved."
Not all sites along the Holy Family's route are being renovated by government agencies. The recently formed Association for the Revival of the Egyptian National Heritage uses private funding to restore sites that would otherwise be left off the map. Headed by businessman Munir Ghabbour, the association is made up of businessmen, engineers, academics, and Muslim and Christian intellectuals dedicated to the cause of promoting Egypt as a religious and historical centre. The first phase of the association's project is to develop the sites from Farama in northern Sinai as far as Old Cairo, moving on to Upper Egypt in the second phase.
"Historic monuments are being restored by the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) and the Ministry of Tourism," said Ghabbour. "Our job is to restore both Coptic and Islamic monuments that are not on their list, like the mausoleum of Tabataba in Old Cairo, which was inundated with water." Among the sites to be restored by the association are the Tree of the Virgin, at Matariya; the church of Mustorod, in the Delta; Mary's Well, in Zagazig; and the tomb of Saint Dimiana, in Belqas Al-Barari, near Damietta.
"Our support will accelerate the process of saving the monuments," Ghabbour said, adding that Russian experts have been hired to restore the icons in the Mustorod church. The alley of Zeweila (in Fatimid Cairo), where one of the oldest churches in the world -- the church of the Holy Virgin -- is plagued by underground water, is also on the list.
"Massive restoration has been carried out in Bethlehem by Palestinians and Israelis to the value of more than $250 million," said Ghabbour, "and there is some competition between us. They get the biggest share of international tourism at present; but now Egypt is being promoted as a holy land like Jerusalem. It is attracting big groups of tourists from Russia, Poland, the Czech Republic and Latin America, and with sustained effort, religious tourism could become as important as our cultural, recreational and adventure trips."
"It is true," Ghabbour added, "that the attraction of Bethlehem is stronger because Jesus Christ lived there, but our product is more diversified; numerous sites all over the Delta and Upper Egypt are associated with the miracles of Jesus. We can start by competing, and, hopefully, end up surpassing them in the number of tourists attracted to this new product."
