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"The Holy Family journey in Egypt:... " a Bilbays Travel Page by Diana75

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"The Holy Family journey in Egypt:... " a Bilbays Travel Page by Diana75

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Diana75   
Happiness doesn't depend upon who you are or what you have; it solely depends on what you think


Real Name: Diana
Lives In: Bucharest, RO
Member Since: Sep 05, 2005
VT Rank: 56

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Page Views: 1,436            Last Visit to Bilbays: September, 2005      

The Holy Family journey in Egypt: Belbeis

by Diana75 - last update: Apr 9, 2006

Inside the upper church in Belbeis
The lower church
Our day trip on the steps of the Holy Family in Egypt started with Belbeis, a district of El Sharqiya govemorate, located at about 52 km from Cairo, which was an important diocese in the 4th century.

It is said that the Holy Family passed by Bilbais on their return from Mostorod and sheltered under a tree known as "The tree of the Virgin Mary".

On this place stands today the church of St George.
There are three things that really intrigued me about this place.

First of them is the correct name of the place.

Bilbais, Bilbays, Belbeis, Bilbeis or Bilbes?

The most common are Belbeis, officially used on maps and in the notes about the Holy Family jouney in Egypt, and sometimes Bilbays.

Second is the name of the church.
To us it was presented as the St. George church and the representations of the saint killing the dragon found in the church are confirming this name. Still, on some pictures of the church it was mentioned as Church of the Virgin Mary.

The third aspect is related to the "The tree of the Virgin Mary". There is no evidence of this tree in Belbeis, while the worldwide recognized as Mary's tree is the one located in Al Matariyah.
Decoration in the upper church

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Comments for Diana75 about Bilbays
LoriPori Wed Dec 20, 2006 00:16 UTC
 Interesting page on Bilbays Diana. Also thanks for visiting the various France pages. Southern France is absolutely wonderful.
matcrazy1 Sun Dec 10, 2006 15:25 UTC
 Glad to hear the Coptic monk opens the church for visitors in Belbeis. I'd like to visit it while in Cairo.
Fam_Stoica Wed May 24, 2006 07:38 UTC
 O noua pagina interesanta ce vine sa intregeasca periplul din zona capitalei egiptene. Pacat ca s-a ajuns la omniprezenta agentilor de securitate ... Daniel
luckyzen Thu Apr 27, 2006 07:36 UTC
 Hi Diana, An Interesting page on Bilbay. Thank you. We are celebrating Freedom Day in South Africa so, yes....off work today.:~)) Hope you are doing ok.

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