In some places in the world, caves used as places of worship. In Cairo, Egypt , there is a cave into a tourist attraction called the Christian religion Monastery of Saint Simon or better known as the Cave Church.
Cave Church located in the southeastern town of Mount Mokattam in Cairo, Egypt, in the zabbaleen. The website of the Association for Protection of the Environment (APE) of Egypt, is mentioned most people zabbaleen is the poor who work as scavengers.
However zabbaleen has other charms, because the mountain Mokattam has a natural cave. What's more, 90 percent of zabbaleen are Coptic Christians. They also build a church there.
Coptic church was first built in the village of Mokattam in 1975. After the church stands, residents zabbaleen slowly build churches with building materials such as stone and more permanent brick.
In 1976 a fire in the area Manshiyat Nasir. From there, start building a community church in a cave in the mountain Mokattam make it more secure. Church Cave or Cave Church, so people call it.
There is a cave in the area of 1,000 square meters which slowly built into a church. The biggest church building is the Monastery of Saint Simon. This church has a seating capacity for 20,000 congregations.
That many tourists do not know is, the church in this cave is the largest church in the Middle East that are mostly Muslim countries. With all that uniqueness, Cave Church became a tourist attraction.
The facade of the church building was established at the mouth of the cave remains as a permanent building. Go inside the door, then the tourists can see the church in a cave.
The main area in the cave shaped like a semicircular auditorium with a pulpit for the pastor on stage. Cave walls were carved with various figures in the story of the Gospel. Bible verses in English and Arabic also adorn the walls of the cave.
Not forgotten is the number of altars and paintings of Jesus Christ. Religious tourism to the Cave Church probably will be a unique experience for Christian travelers.