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"Some of the Western pilgrims who visited Egypt in the fourteenth century on their pilgrimage to the Holy Land wrote down their impressions of this exotic place; they were struck by its physical features, its flora and fauna, as well as by its inhabitants and the way they lived. While underlining the significance of paleochristian traditions around Cairo, such as the Holy Family's stay at Babylone-Fustat, which are supported by the concrete evidence of famous ancient churches and other various sites, among which the miraculous garden of Meterie, they provide a fairly realistic description of the Nile country and its circumstances. Apart from some fanciful opinions, such as the idea that the pyramids were Joseph's granaries, their descriptions provide a rather accurate portrait of the country, its society, and the Mameluk government."