In the church you see the location of the sanctuary and the baptismal font. The church is built on the location of a late pharaonic or perhaps Ptolemaic temple. Near the church is an agora, a market dating back to the Greek period of Egypt. On the stones of the agora are some ancient Greek writings. This indicates that this basilica was in the center of this ancient Greek city. Western scholars believe the tradition of the Holy Family probably started in al-Ashmunayn. Since ‘A history of the Monks in Egypt’, a book dating to around A.D. 400 and the first reference to this tradition, only mentions Hermopolis or al-Ashmunayn (See Stephen Davis in ‘Be Thou There’, Cairo, 2001).
In the nearby village of Al–Ashmunayn, we can visit the Orthodox Church of Saint Wadamon, and a small Plymouth Brethren church.
 © copyright Stairs inside a late Pharaonic or perhaps Ptolemaic temple at Al–Ashmunayn that was once the famous Hermopolis Magna. |
 © copyright Remains of stones and the basilica seen from the temple at Al–Ashmunayn that was once the famous Hermopolis Magna. |
 © copyright Dr. Peter Grossman Plan of the basilica |
 © copyright Stone sculpture at Al–Ashmunayn that was once the famous Hermopolis Magna. |
 © copyright The ruins of the colossal Corinthian columns of the basilica at Al–Ashmunayn that was once the famous Hermopolis Magna which probably date back to the first half of the first century. |
 © copyright |
 © copyright A Greek stone sculpture at Al–Ashmunayn that was once the famous Hermopolis Magna. |
 © copyright Al – Ashmunayn (village) (LT): The Church of Saint Wadamon in the village of Al–Ashmunayn. |
 © copyright Al – Ashmunayn (village) (LT): A small Plymouth Brethren church at Al–Ashmunayn. |
 © copyright Al – Ashmunayn (village) (LT): A village woman, member of the Plymouth Brethren church at Al–Ashmunayn. |