The crypt of the Coptic Church of Abu Sarga. Old Cairo, Egypt

Object Details

Local Numbers: Negative number 1959 C-6, 26.
General: Title source: Index card based on photographer's notes.
Local Note: Typed index card reads, "T 6 Egy. Egypt. Old Cairo. Crypt of the Holy Family church. 1959. EE. neg.no. 1959 C-6, 26." The card was written in 1977-79 by Archives staff using source provided by photographer.

See more items in: Eliot Elisofon Field collection; Eliot Elisofon Field collection / Egypt

Archival Repository: Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art

Type: Archival materials; Negatives (photographic); Black-and-white negatives; Negatives

Collection Citation: Eliot Elisofon Field Collection, EEPA 1973-001, Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution

Collection Rights: Permission to reproduce images from the Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives must be obtained in advance. The collection is subject to all copyright laws.

Scope and Contents: "This most interesting church owes its fame to the tradition that it is on the site of the house where the Holy Family lodged during the Sojourn in Egypt. It is dedicated to Sts Segius and Bacchus, favourite saints of early times, and is known as Abu Sarga (St Sergius), while the crypt, which is the primitive church, was dedicated to the Virgin. The crypt is barrel-vaulted in three spans and has a nave and north and south aisles, divided off by slender colums. It is used five times in the year, amongst others on the Feasts of the Flight into Egypt and of the Nativity." [Russell D., 1963: Medieval Cairo and the Monasteries of the Wādi Natrūn. Weidenfeld and Nicolson]. This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignment for Life magazine and traveled to Africa from August 18, 1959 to December 20, 1959.

Collection Restrictions: Use of original records requires an appointment. Contact Archives staff for more details.