Cairo Trip Overview
Manshiyat Nasser, or as it is more popularly known, Garbage City, is a slum settlement with a population of around 60,000 on the outskirts of the Moqattam Hills, within Cairo’s sprawling metropolitan area, who have retained their Coptic beliefs and established the largest Christian church in the Middle East at the Monastery of St. Johns. Simon.
Additional Info
Duration: 5 hours
Starts: Cairo, Egypt
Trip Category: Cultural & Theme Tours >> Cultural Tours
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What to Expect When Visiting Cairo, Cairo Governorate, Egypt
Manshiyat Nasser, or as it is more popularly known, Garbage City, is a slum settlement with a population of around 60,000 on the outskirts of the Moqattam Hills, within Cairo’s sprawling metropolitan area, who have retained their Coptic beliefs and established the largest Christian church in the Middle East at the Monastery of St. Johns. Simon.
The Monastery of Saint Simon, also known as the Cave Church, is located in the Mokattam mountain in southeastern Cairo, Egypt, in an area that is known as ‘garbage city’ because of the large population of garbage collectors or Zabbaleen that live there. The Zabbaleen are descendants of farmers who started migrating from Upper Egypt to Cairo in the 1940s. Fleeing poor harvests and poverty they came to the city looking for work and set-up makeshift settlements around the city. Initially, they stuck to their tradition of raising pigs, goats, chickens and other animals, but eventually found collecting and sorting of waste produced by the city residents more profitable. The Zabbaleen would sort through household garbage, salvaging and selling things of value, while the organic waste provided an excellent source of food for their animals. In fact, this arrangement worked so well, that successive waves of migrants came from Upper Egypt to live and work in the newly founded garbage villages of Cairo.
