دير أبو حنس

Cut into the eastern limestone cliffs above the Nile near Deir Abu Hennis, this early Coptic cave-church is one of Middle Egypt's quieter spiritual survivals. Christian hermits carved chapels and cells straight into an old Roman quarry here in the early centuries of the faith, and faded wall paintings and rough-hewn sanctuaries still line the rock.

You come for the atmosphere as much as the art: a working village church, monastic caves honeycombing the hillside, and a landscape tied to the tradition of the Holy Family's flight through Egypt. It rewards travellers drawn to the country's Christian heritage far off the pharaonic trail.

The setting above the river valley is broad and still, best appreciated slowly on foot.