The modest-looking church of St. Barbara relics of St. Barbara, who according to tradition was betrayed by cruel violence his own father for having tried to convert him to Christianity. This is one of the biggest and most famous Christian churches in Egypt.

The current church was built in the XI century on the site of an earlier church. The architecture of the basilica is very similar to the Church of Abu Serga. The decoration of the church is its carved iconostasis of the XIII century, inlaid with ivory.