FromJoanne
Heaven and Hell ;Monastery of St. Simian the Tanner, whose only access is via the Cairo ( Egypt) rubbish dump of the Muqattam Hills
Heaven ( the Monastery) and Hell( the garbage dump)
)
We first had to drive through the village of Mansheiyet Nasser where the Zabaleen (garbage collectors') live and work.
Zibala in Arab means garbage and Zabbalin means those who work with garbage
The place smells, the narrow streets strewn with garbage, men sitting at the roadside, puffing on their shisha's drinking tea , dirty children playing and running around .
Left and right, I could see people, young and old picking at and sorting out piles of rubbish, plastic, tins, clothes and whatever ... carts piled high with garbage, pulled by miserable emaciated donkeys......
My God what a life !
I just watched quietly .
Finally we arrived !
Stunning ! What an awesome sight ! This is art, this is beauty !
What a contrast ! A Polish artist who has been working there
for several years has created carvings which he cut in relief representing stories from the bible.
The Monastery, located on the opposite side of the road leading to the Citadel contains seven Churches and Chapels hidden in a series of caves in the Mokattam (Muqattam) hills.
Heaven and Hell ;Monastery of St. Simian the Tanner, whose only access is via the Cairo ( Egypt) rubbish dump of the Muqattam Hills
Heaven ( the Monastery) and Hell( the garbage dump)
)
We first had to drive through the village of Mansheiyet Nasser where the Zabaleen (garbage collectors') live and work.
Zibala in Arab means garbage and Zabbalin means those who work with garbage
The place smells, the narrow streets strewn with garbage, men sitting at the roadside, puffing on their shisha's drinking tea , dirty children playing and running around .
Left and right, I could see people, young and old picking at and sorting out piles of rubbish, plastic, tins, clothes and whatever ... carts piled high with garbage, pulled by miserable emaciated donkeys......
My God what a life !
I just watched quietly .
Finally we arrived !
Stunning ! What an awesome sight ! This is art, this is beauty !
What a contrast ! A Polish artist who has been working there
for several years has created carvings which he cut in relief representing stories from the bible.
The Monastery, located on the opposite side of the road leading to the Citadel contains seven Churches and Chapels hidden in a series of caves in the Mokattam (Muqattam) hills.