The Holy Family stayed in Matareya for several days, and was sheltered by a sycamore tree known today as the “Mary’s Tree.” The Virgin washed the clothes of the Child Jesus from the water of a nearby well and poured its water there. An aromatic plant with a beautiful aroma grew there, which was known as the balsam plant, which is used as medicine. They add it to the types of perfumes and spices from which the holy chrism is made.
Some historians called this well (the Balsam well), and there is still a street in Matareya called Balsam Street, and a street called Mary’s Well.
Al-Suyuti’s Book of Strange Wonders mentioned that the Balsam well is located in the land of Egypt near Matareya, and the Balsam plant are irrigated with its water.
It was said that the last balsam plant in this area were cut off in the seventeenth century due to the flooding of the Nile, and since that time Egypt did not have this plant anymore.