The Hanging Church is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and contains sanctuaries to her and Saints John the Baptist and George.[5] The church held many important ceremonies for the Coptic hierarchy of Cairo. These include the selection and burial of patriarchs, the former occurring from the 11th to 14th centuries while the latter only between the 11th and 12th, as well as the consecration of holy oil and judgement of heresy trials; selection of the date of Easter for every year was another important proceeding held within.[5] These processes are held at the Hanging Church due to the movement in the 11th century of the patriarchal seat to Cairo from Alexandria.[5]