Coptic Museum Cairo: tickets, opening hours and what to see

The Coptic Museum on Mar Girgis Street in Old Cairo is open seven days a week from 9am to 5pm, and the ticket window closes at 4pm, according to the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. Egyptians pay EGP 20 for an adult ticket and EGP 10 for a student; foreign visitors pay EGP 280 and EGP 140. The museum holds about 16,000 objects and, in the ministry's words, the largest collection of Coptic artefacts in the world.

Opening hours

The ministry's page for the museum lists the same hours for every day, Sunday to Saturday: 9am to 5pm, with the last tickets sold at 4pm. During Ramadan the museum opens from 9am to 3pm and the ticket window closes at 2pm. The museum's own portal on the ministry's website still shows a closing time of 4.30pm, so plan to arrive well before 4pm to be safe.

Ticket prices

Egyptians: adults EGP 20, students EGP 10.

Foreign visitors: adults EGP 280, students EGP 140.

These are the prices on the ministry's main museum page. An older visit page on the museum's portal still lists EGP 100 and EGP 50 for foreigners and EGP 10 and EGP 5 for Egyptians; the main page carries the current prices. The ministry does not mention online booking for this museum: tickets are bought at the window.

Who gets in free

The ministry lists five groups: Egyptians aged 60 and over, Egyptians with special needs, orphaned children, children under 6, and government and Al-Azhar primary and preparatory school trips booked in advance on the Rehla platform.

Where it is and how to get there

The address is 3 Mar Girgis Street, Old Cairo. The museum sits inside the walls of the Roman fortress of Babylon, close to Mar Girgis Metro station, which the ministry names as the way to get there. For drivers, the ministry gives the Fustat car park as the nearest parking.

What is inside

Marcus Simaika Pasha began building the museum in 1908 on land owned by the Coptic Church and opened it in 1910. He bought and gathered antiquities and architectural pieces from older buildings under renovation, and used carved wooden ceilings, mashrabiya screens, marble columns and mosaics from old palaces in the building itself. The museum passed to the state in 1931. A second wing, built in the same style as the first, opened in 1947.

Today the two wings hold 26 halls over two floors, plus a hall for pieces taken from the historic churches of Old Cairo. The collection follows the story of Egypt's Copts from its beginnings, and shows how their art drew on Pharaonic, Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman styles before finding its own. Look for illuminated manuscripts, icons, finely carved woodwork and wall paintings recovered from old monasteries.

The museum's portal picks out five pieces to see:

Photos

Photos on a mobile phone are free, according to the ministry's main page. Flash, tripods and monopods are not allowed, and visitors are asked not to photograph other visitors or staff. Filming for television, cinema or advertising needs a permit and a daily fee.

Rules for visitors

Do not touch the exhibits or the showcases. Food and drinks are not allowed in the galleries, apart from small bottles of water. Smoking is banned everywhere in the museum. Audio players, flashlights and laser pointers are not allowed. Bags or parcels larger than 40 by 40 cm, umbrellas and sharp objects go in the cloakroom, and bags can be searched. Pets and musical instruments are not allowed. Children must stay with an adult at all times. Dress appropriately. Art students may sketch in pencil only, in sketchbooks no larger than 18 by 24 inches.

Services

The ministry lists a gift shop, a library, a lift, an escalator, a ramped entrance, toilets and Wi-Fi.

Common questions

Is the museum open on Friday? Yes, the ministry lists the same hours every day of the week.

Can I pay by card? The ministry's page does not say which payment methods the ticket window accepts.

How do I contact the museum? The museum's portal gives the email address copticmuseum.msa@gmail.com.