THE HANGING CHURCH

• The Hanging Church derives its name from its location on top of the southern tower gate of the old Babylon fortress with its nave suspended above the passage.
• It became known to travelers during the 14th and 15th centuries as the "staircase church" because of the twenty-nine steps that lead to the entrance.
• It is dedicated to the Virgin Mary, St. Barbara and St. John the Baptist.
• It is the most famous Coptic Christian church in Cairo, as well as the first built in Basilica style.
• By the 11th century AD, it became the official residence of the Coptic patriarchs of Alexandria.
• Some patriarchs were either enthroned or elected at El Muallaqa, and a number of others were buried at the church during the 11th and 12th centuries.
• Also, Coptic synods were held in the church to determine which day Easter would fall or to judge priests or bishops suspected of heretical teachings. 
• It was probably built during the patriarchate of Isaac (690-92), though an earlier church building may have existed dating as earlier as the 3rd or 4th century. 
• The church was largely rebuilt during by the patriarch Abraham (975-78) and has seen many restorations.
• Some objects of historical interest that were no longer of service of this church went to the Coptic Museum.
• Though now in the Coptic Museum, the oldest  artifact unearthed in the church was a lintel showing Christ's entry into Jerusalem and dates from ether the 5th or 6th century.
• However, though there are many objects from the church in the Coptic Museum, inside the church are collections of over one hundred icons of which the oldest dates from the 8th century. 
• Among those very interesting icons of this church are seven small icons that depict the life of Saint John the Baptist.
• All of those icons are the work of a single Armenian artist, Orhan Karabedian, and were executed in 1777. 
• Within the church's southern aisle is a small door of fine pine wood inlaid with translucent ivory plating. This leads to the "little church", actually a chapel, which represents the oldest section of the structure!!!!!
• At one time, all of the columns of this chapel were adorned with paintings, but today, only the scene on the fifth column from the east in the southern row is visible.

It probably depicts a female saint who was possibly either a Queen or a Princess.