St George and the Roman Tower of Babylon

Notice the shape of this church: it is round because it sits on a circular Roman tower. You are beside the fortress of Babylon, the stronghold the Romans built here on the banks of the Nile around the year 300.

1Why Babylon?

The name puzzles every visitor. The Greek historian Diodorus of Sicily wrote that prisoners brought from Babylon in Mesopotamia rebelled and founded a fortress here named after their homeland. The geographer Strabo gave a similar version. Some scholars believe instead that the name comes from an ancient Egyptian name for the place, garbled by the Greeks. Nobody has settled the question.

What is documented is that in 641, after a long siege, the fortress surrendered to the Arab army of Amr ibn al-As. That was the beginning of Egypt's Islamic history.

2The Greek church

The church belongs to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria. The present building dates from the early 20th century, rebuilt after a fire. For decades groundwater flooded the base of the towers, until a drainage project brought the level down around the year 2000.

In a nearby convent dedicated to the saint, visitors are shown a chain that, according to popular devotion, recalls his martyrdom. The faithful wrap it around themselves to ask for protection.

3What to look for

• The bands of red brick between the stone blocks, a typical late Roman building technique.
• The circular plan of the church, traced exactly on the tower.
• The flight of steps rising from the street.