In modest-looking Church of St. Barbara the relics of St. Barbara, which according to legend was given a cruel punishment by his father for trying to convert him to the Christian faith. This is one of the largest and most famous Christian churches in Egypt.

The current Church building 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 thirteenth century, inlaid with ivory.