The Holy Family passed through the city of Al-Bahnasa, which is located west of the Nile near the Western Mountains, at the edge of the desert, 16 km northwest of Bani Mazar, and 10 km south of Deir Al-Garnus village in Minya Governorate.
Al-Maqrizi said: The Copts agree that the Holy Family visited Bahnasa, and the Islamic tradition says that the Holy Family traveled on a donkey to Bahnasa, where there is a well in a small church. The Virgin Mary and her son used the water in this well to wash themselves and their clothes, and its water heals the patients and the sick.
There is a story from the folklore which says that when the Holy Family arrived in Bahnasa, they went to the place of the famous well, and then Jesus asked for water and began to cry because of thirst, and there was no water in that place. Immediately, the water level in the well rose so that Jesus could drink, and since that time Christians celebrate this event.
Anba Qaryaqos’ sermon mentions that when the Holy Family arrived in the city of Al-Bahnasa, its people worshiped idols, which fell on their faces and could not stand before God, the Creator of heaven and earth, so their priests fled.
A shepherd met them while tending his flock with his two sons. He welcomed them well and taught them that an angel told him that they would come to Bahnasa before their arrival, and he begged them to stay with him. The Lord Jesus Christ promised him a special blessing for this place, then He took three sticks from him and his two children and planted them. The sticks blossomed at once and became three trees, and shaded them after bowing their heads in prostration to the Divine Child.
