From the historian writings, the church of Deir Al-Garnous was called throughout the ages by three names:
“Bay Issos” Church, was the first name it was known by, after the visit of Christ, glory be to Him, to its location. This was mentioned by Anba Quriakos, Bishop of Bahnasa, in his memoir, which he compiled in the seventh century A.D., about the Holy Family, who stayed there for four days.
The second name is “Arginos Church” mentioned by ancient historians in their writings with this name, and it is a French word meaning “intelligence and inquiry,” in reference to the well located in it that was used to check the height of the water of the Nile river.
As for the third name, it is the Church of “The Virgin Mary, Monastery of Garnous”, which is the name of the current church built on the ruins of the old church and dedicated to that name, and it dates back to the Arab era about 300 years ago.
The historian Muhammad Ramzi mentioned it in the Geographical Dictionary of the Ancient Egyptian Countries as “Nahiyat al-Garnus”.
