The Church of Saint Porphyrius or St. Porphyrius Church ( el, Εκκλησία του Αγίου Πορφυρίου, ar, كنيسة القديس برفيريوس) is a

Greek Orthodox Christian The term Greek Orthodox Church (Greek: Ἑλληνορθόδοξη Ἐκκλησία, ''Ellinorthódoxi Ekklisía'', ) has two meanings. The broader meaning designates "the entire body of Orthodox (Chalcedonian) Christianity, sometimes also call ...

church in

Gaza City Gaza (;''The New Oxford Dictionary of English'' (1998), , p. 761 "Gaza Strip /'gɑːzə/ a strip of territory in Palestine, on the SE Mediterranean coast including the town of Gaza...". ar, غَزَّة ', ), also referred to as Gaza City, i ...

State of Palestine Palestine ( ar, فلسطين, Filasṭīn), Legal status of the State of Palestine, officially the State of Palestine ( ar, دولة فلسطين, Dawlat Filasṭīn, label=none), is a state (polity), state located in Western Asia. Officiall ...

, and the oldest active church in the city. Located in the Zaytun Quarter of the Old City of Gaza, it is named after the 5th century bishop of Gaza, Saint Porphyrius, whose tomb is situated in the northeastern corner of the church.Dumper, 2007, p.156.

History

Original construction of the Church of Saint Porphyrius dates back to 425 CE, however the modern construction was undertaken by the Crusaders in the 1150s or 1160s and they dedicated it St. Porphyrius. Records from the 15th century show that dedication of the church was also attested to the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...

. In 1856, it was renovated. There are some cornices and bases that date back to the Crusader period, but much of the other portions are later additions. In 2014, around 2,000 Palestinian Muslims fleeing Israeli bombings that had killed over 70 Palestinians took shelter in the Church of Saint Porphyirius. During the bombings, families slept in the corridors and rooms of the church and adjoining buildings, where they also had meals and medical care provided to them.

Architecture

The Church of Saint Porphyrius has a rectangular shape, ending with a half-domed roofed temple.Travel in Gaza
MidEastTravelling. Its pavement below ground level in its southern part, and below ground level at the northern end, suggesting that the present building was built atop of an earlier church structure. The church consists of a single aisle made up of two groin-vaulted bays, with a projecting semi-circular

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

preceded by a barrel-vaulted presbytery. Internally, the building measures by , including the apse. It has architectural and constructional similarities with the former Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist (currently the

Great Mosque of Gaza The Great Mosque of Gaza ( ar, المسجد غزة الكبير, transliteration: ''al-Masjid Ghazza al-Kabīr''), also known as the Great Omari Mosque ( ar, المسجد العمري الكبير, transliteration: ''al-Masjid al-ʿUmarī al-Kab� ...

).Pringle, 1993, p
216
/ref> There are three entrances for the church: the western one has a

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

with three

marble Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or Dolomite (mineral), dolomite. Marble is typically not Foliation (geology), foliated (layered), although there are exceptions. In geology, the ...

columns supporting two pointed arches. The bases of the marbles date from the Crusader era.Meyer, 1907,
111
/ref> The church can also be entered from its

façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a Loanword, loan word from the French language, French (), which means 'frontage' or 'face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often t ...

or from a side door which opens onto a modern gallery, equipped with stairs for going down to the level of the pavement.Gaza – (Gaza, al -'Azzah)
Studium Biblicum Franciscanum – Jerusalem. 2000-12-19. Its colossal walls are supported by horizontal marble and

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

columns and

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

References

Bibliography

* (pp
381
3 * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Church Of Saint Porphyrius Churches completed in 1150 12th-century Eastern Orthodox church buildings Churches in the Gaza Strip Greek Orthodox churches Greek Orthodoxy in the State of Palestine Church buildings in the Kingdom of Jerusalem