This town offers a change of pace from ancient Egyptian ruins. It's the spiritual center of the Coptic church and has the ruins of several monasteries and hermitages from the fourth to the ninth centuries. One of them is Deir Abu Makaryus (most Coptic popes have been selected from the monks there). It has a dungeon-tower that incorporates no less than four churches and a wine vat. The second-floor church has an iconostasis and sculptures dating from the fourth and fifth centuries. 60 mi/100 km northwest of Cairo.
