Shrine of Saint George - Cairo
The shrine of Saint George is located inside Old Cairo (Fustat). The main door at the street is closed most of the times and access is through a smaller door in a street nearby. It is also known as the Nuns of St.George Convent or just St. George’s Convent. The monastery of St. George is also called Deir al-Banat (in Arabic), it is believed that the foundation of the structure dates from the seventh or eighth century.
The complex consists of seven rooms with wooden doors leading into them and main hall of the shrine dates back to the 10th century. A huge wooden door measuring almost 7.6 m high and 2.2m wide dates back to the 10th century. There are seven rooms built around the main hall, those rooms display various religious objects. Nuns live on the upper floors of the building.
Inside one of the rooms, there is a chain which is believed to have miraculous powers, it is 4.2 meters long and is attached to the south wall of the inner room of the shrine. Normally the chain is applied to women, though men sometimes seek the blessings of the saint through the chain.
Often St. George is depicted in a fight with a dragon although there is no historical proof to this myth. This story didn’t associate with St. George in the beginning but it may had been adopted from the Western Christians.
