Samalut Attractions

Samalut (west bank of the Nile) is a district capital on the lbrahimiya Canal, with a Coptic church and a sugar factory. Soon after this, at the mouth of a side valley on the east bank, is seen a steep rocky hill, the Gebel el-Teir (Bird Mountain), on the flat top of which is the Coptic Monastery of Deir Gebel el-Teir, also known as Deir el-Baqara or Deir el-Adra (Monastery of the Virgin). A steep flight of steps runs up to the top of the hill. The monastery, surrounded by a wall of dressed stone dating from the Roman period, consists of a group of very modest buildings now mainly inhabited by peasants. The church is said to have been founded by the Empress Helena over a cave in which the Holy Family rested during their flight into Egypt. The sanctuary is hewn from the rock, with a doorway, now half buried in rubble, decorated in Byzantine style. From the top of the hill there is a fine view of the Nile Valley with its fields of cotton and sugar cane plantations.