The next location on the official list of Holy Family’s southward itinerary is Maadi, a suburb city 10 kilometers south of Old Cairo. According to the tradition, the Holy Family embarked for Upper Egypt here in order to escape from the pursuing soldiers of Herod. The local priest believes that the Church of the Virgin Mary in Maadi is situated on the place of an ancient synagogue used during a time when some Jews had fled to Egypt for refuge.

As at other holy sites, the church of Maadi also boasts important miracles. On Friday of March 12, 1976, a deacon found a Holy Bible floating on the water. It was of course salvaged immediately and to people’s surprise, the Bible was open to the Chapter 19 of Isaiah, which reads

Blessed be Egypt my people.

The Bible now is on display in a reliquary of the church.

Photo: Cornelis Hulsman, the three domes of the Church of the Holy Virgin at Maadi.

Photo: Norbert Schiller, the church at Maadi overlooking the Nile.

Photo: Norbert Schiller, the passageway trodden by the Holy Family to board the boat to Upper Egypt.

Photo: Norbert Schiller, a Coptic policeman seeking blessings from an Icon in the church at Maadi.

Photo: Norbert Schiller, the church at Maadi overlooking the Nile.

Photo: Norbert Schiller, the curtain of the mian sanctuary in the church at Maadi.