Post on 11-Feb-2022
9/14/13 11:59 PMThe Cave Church of the Zabbaleen in Cairo | Amusing Planet
Page 1 of 8http://www.amusingplanet.com/2013/09/the-cave-church-of-zabbaleen-in-cairo.html
The Cave Church of the Zabbaleen in Cairo
By Kaushik Tuesday, September 10, 2013 Middle East, Travel 1 comment
The Monastery of Saint Simon, also known as the Cave Church, is located in the Mokattam mountain in southeastern Cairo,Egypt, in an area that is known as ‘garbage city’ because of the large population of garbage collectors or Zabbaleen that livethere. The Zabbaleen are descendants of farmers who started migrating from Upper Egypt to Cairo in the 1940s. Fleeing poorharvests and poverty they came to the city looking for work and set-up makeshift settlements around the city. Initially, theystuck to their tradition of raising pigs, goats, chickens and other animals, but eventually found collecting and sorting of wasteproduced by the city residents more profitable. The Zabbaleen would sort through household garbage, salvaging and sellingthings of value, while the organic waste provided an excellent source of food for their animals. In fact, this arrangement workedso well, that successive waves of migrants came from Upper Egypt to live and work in the newly founded garbage villages ofCairo.
Photo credit: Gianluigi Guercia
For years, the makeshift settlements of the Zabbaleen were moved around the city trying to avoid the municipal authorities.Finally, a large group of Zabbaleen settled under the cliffs of the Mokattam or Moquattam quarries at the eastern edge of thecity, which has now grown from a population of 8,000 in the early 1980s, into the largest garbage collector community in Cairo,with approximately 30,000 Zabbaleen inhabitants.
Egypt is a Muslim-majority country, but the Zabbaleen are Coptic Christians, at least, 90 percent of them are. Christiancommunities are rare to find in Egypt, so the Zabbaleen prefer to stay in Mokattam within their own religious community eventhough many of them could afford houses elsewhere.
The local Coptic Church in Mokattam Village was established in 1975. After the establishment of the church, the Zabbaleen feltmore secure in their location and only then began to use more permanent building materials, such as stone and bricks, for theirhomes. Given their previous experience of eviction from Giza in 1970, the Zabbaleen had lived in temporary tin huts up till thatpoint. In 1976, a large fire broke out in Manshiyat Nasir, which led to the beginning of the construction of the first church belowthe Mokattam mountain on a site of 1,000 square meters. Several more churches have been built into the caves found inMokattam, of which the Monastery of St. Simon the Tanner is the largest with a seating capacity of 20,000. In fact, the Cave
RECENT ARTICLES
Walkie Talkie Buildingin London Creates‘Death Ray’ withReflected Sunlight
The AnnualChincoteague PonySwim
The Cave Church ofthe Zabbaleen in Cairo
Enormous Statue ofGenghis Khan inMongolia
Boardman Tree Farmin Oregon, USA
Rapa River Delta,Sweden
Bloemencorso ZundertFlower Parade 2013
Artist CollaboratesWith 4-Year-Old ToCreate SurrealistPortraits
Mysterious CocoonWith a Picket Fence
Hezbollah ResistanceMuseum in Mleeta,Lebanon
SUBSCRIBE
Amusing PlanetLike
15,617 people like Amusing Planet.
Facebook social plugin
Search
POPULAR THIS WEEK
Chand Baori Step Well in Rajasthan,Chand Baori Step Well in Rajasthan,IndiaIndiaChand Baori in Abhaneri village ineastern Rajasthan, India, is one of themost overlooked landmarks in thecountry. It is one of the oldest...
The Cave Church of the Zabbaleen inThe Cave Church of the Zabbaleen inCairoCairoThe Monastery of Saint Simon, alsoknown as the Cave Church, is located inthe Mokattam mountain in southeasternCairo, Egypt, in an area th...
Boardman Tree Farm in Oregon, USABoardman Tree Farm in Oregon, USAThe Boardman Tree Farm is located in Morrow, county
HOME ART & DESIGN ANIMALS ARCHITECTURE AUTO EVENTS FOOD FUNNY NATURE PEOPLE PHOTOGRAPHY TECH TRAVEL VINTAGE WTF
9/14/13 11:59 PMThe Cave Church of the Zabbaleen in Cairo | Amusing Planet
Page 2 of 8http://www.amusingplanet.com/2013/09/the-cave-church-of-zabbaleen-in-cairo.html
Church of St. Simon in Mokattam is the largest church in the Middle East.
Photo credit
Photo credit
Oregon, along Interstate 84, 5 miles westof the I-82 junction. Owned by theGreenWood T...
Enormous Statue of Genghis Khan inEnormous Statue of Genghis Khan inMongoliaMongoliaTo the outside world, Genghis Khan, thefearsome Mongolian warrior whoconquered half the known world in the13th century, is remembered for...
Walkie Talkie Building in LondonWalkie Talkie Building in LondonCreates ‘Death Ray’ with ReflectedCreates ‘Death Ray’ with ReflectedSunlightSunlightA new London skyscraper dubbed the"Walkie-Talkie" due to its distinctiveshape, has been blamed for reflecting
light and heat fro...
Food Cut in Half: Photography byFood Cut in Half: Photography byBeth GaltonBeth GaltonNew York-based food photographer BethGalton , together with food stylistCharlotte Omnès, took these amazingphotographs of different dishe...
Pink Lake Hillier in AustraliaPink Lake Hillier in AustraliaLake Hillier is a pink-colored lake onMiddle Island, the largest of the islandsand islets that make up the RechercheArchipelago, Western ...
Mysterious Cocoon With a PicketMysterious Cocoon With a PicketFenceFenceResearchers to an expedition to therainforest in the Southern PeruvianAmazon have spotted, what appears tobe a mysterious new cocoon. The...
Rapa River Delta, SwedenRapa River Delta, SwedenThe Rapa River (also called Rapaätno)flows through the Sarek National Park,winding through magnificent mountainranges and narrow valleys,...
The Annual Chincoteague Pony SwimThe Annual Chincoteague Pony SwimEvery year, some 150 wild Chincoteagueponies are rounded up on AssateagueIsland, a long barrier island located offthe eastern coast of De...
CHOOSE A SUBJECT TO EXPLORE
Advertising Africa AnimalsArchitecture Art n Design
Asia Auto BeachChina Culture Engineering Europe EventsFashion Food Funny History IndiaIslands Japan Museum NationalParks Nature News NorthAmerica Paintings People PhotographyRestaurant Science Sculpture SouthAmerica Spain Sports Street art TechTravel U.S. Vintage WTF
Abandoned
Announcement astronomy Attractions Australia
France Middle East
New Zealand
Russia
U.K.
9/14/13 11:59 PMThe Cave Church of the Zabbaleen in Cairo | Amusing Planet
Page 3 of 8http://www.amusingplanet.com/2013/09/the-cave-church-of-zabbaleen-in-cairo.html
Photo credit
Photo credit
9/14/13 11:59 PMThe Cave Church of the Zabbaleen in Cairo | Amusing Planet
Page 4 of 8http://www.amusingplanet.com/2013/09/the-cave-church-of-zabbaleen-in-cairo.html
Photo credit
Photo credit
9/14/13 11:59 PMThe Cave Church of the Zabbaleen in Cairo | Amusing Planet
Page 5 of 8http://www.amusingplanet.com/2013/09/the-cave-church-of-zabbaleen-in-cairo.html
Photo credit
Photo credit
9/14/13 11:59 PMThe Cave Church of the Zabbaleen in Cairo | Amusing Planet
Page 6 of 8http://www.amusingplanet.com/2013/09/the-cave-church-of-zabbaleen-in-cairo.html
The garbage city. Photo credit
Photo credit
9/14/13 11:59 PMThe Cave Church of the Zabbaleen in Cairo | Amusing Planet
Page 7 of 8http://www.amusingplanet.com/2013/09/the-cave-church-of-zabbaleen-in-cairo.html
TweetTweet 32 10 StumbleUpon
Newer Articles Older Articles
Photo credit
Sources: Wikipedia, A.P.E. Cairo
Home
1 comment:
Enter your comment...
Comment as: Google Account
Publish Preview
Comment moderation is enabled. It may take a while for your commentsto appear.
Copyright © 2013 Copyright © 2013 Amusing PlanetAmusing Planet | | Privacy PolicyPrivacy Policy | | ContactContact
Like 189 Send 29
Anonymous September 13, 2013 at 8:29 AM
"Gouge out your eyes", and other wise parables. Lovely.
Reply
9/14/13 11:59 PMThe Cave Church of the Zabbaleen in Cairo | Amusing Planet
Page 8 of 8http://www.amusingplanet.com/2013/09/the-cave-church-of-zabbaleen-in-cairo.html
Design by Design by NewWpThemesNewWpThemes | Blogger Theme by | Blogger Theme by LasanthaLasantha