Abu al-Makarim (12th century) said that there were two churches in Belbeis, one inside the city and the other outside. We understand from this that the Holy Family’s place outside the city became honored by the Christians and they built a church in it which had 3 altars in the name of the Virgin, Archangel Michael and Saint George. However, the old church disappeared with time and so far there is a hill called the Church Hill outside Belbeis (as it appears from the cadastral maps), on which edges the existing church was built.
The Church Tradition relates that in Belbeis, the Holy Family took shelter under a tree called “Maryam’s Tree”, and there was a well next to it. Also, history tells us a story about the “Maryam’s Tree” outside Belbeis that when the soldiers of Napoleon Bonaparte passed by Belbeis, they wanted to cut down this tree in order to benefit from its wood and cook their food on it. However, when they hit the tree with their ax to cut it down, blood flowed from it. The soldiers were terrified, and they did not dare to touch it anymore. In the end, the tree was cut down by the hands of some workers during the digging of the Suez Canal. In its place the mosque of Othman bin Haris Al-Ansari was built in the center of the city at the intersection of Al-Ansari Street with Al-Baghdadi Street, and inside the mosque there is still a pillar in place of the cut tree.
References
* Pope Kyrillos VI Family Scientific Forum
* The Holy Family’s Journey to Egypt and Old Cairo Region.
* Monastery of the Great Martyr George for Nuns, Old Cairo.
* The vision of Pope Theophilus, the twenty-third pope of Alexandria.
* The Holy Family’s Journey in Mallawi and in all of Egypt by Anba Demetrius, Bishop of Mallawi, Ensana and Ashmounin.
* Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, by Dr. Izzat Andraos.
* The vision of Bishop Zacharias (Bishop of Sakha in the seventh century)
* The book The Flight of the Holy Family from Bethlehem to Egypt and their Return, prepared by the monk Reverend Philopos Anba Bishoy
* A historical overview of the city of Belbeis, old and new, and its reception to the Holy Family, St. George Church in Belbeis
