The Church of St. George in Coptic Cairo is the principal Greek Orthodox church of Egypt. It is built atop an old Roman tower and adjoins the Monastery of St. George.
The Church of St. George was built in the 10th century, but a fire destroyed the original structure. The present church dates only from 1904, but still has some of the older structure's beautiful stained-glass windows. For centuries, the church alternated between ownership by the Copts and the Greek, but since the 15th century it has remained Greek Orthodox.
St. George is the only round church in Egypt, but unlike the original Church of the Holy Sepulcher and its many imitators (such as Rome's Santa Stefano Rotondo and London's Temple Church), this is only for practical reasons - it is built atop the foundations of a Roman round tower.
The Holy Family is said to have taken shelter in a place now covered by the Church.
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