St. Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral is a
Coptic church
Church may refer to:
Religion
* Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities
* Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination
* Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship
* C ...
located in the
Abbassia District in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...
,
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...
. The
cathedral
A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...
is the
Seat of the
Coptic Orthodox Pope. It was built during the time when
Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria was
Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church
The Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church ( cop, Ⲡⲁⲡⲁ, translit=Papa; ar, البابا, translit=al-Bābā), also known as the Bishop of Alexandria, is the leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church, with ancient Christian roots in Egypt. The ...
, and was consecrated on 25 June 1968.
The church is dedicated to St.
Mark the Evangelist, an
apostle
An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to send off". The purpose of such sending ...
of
Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...
and founder of the
Coptic Orthodox Church. Relics of his life are kept inside. It was, until 2019, (after the inauguration of the new
Nativity Cathedral) the largest cathedral in
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
and the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...
.
History of the land
The cathedral is located in the place of a village called
p-Sovt em-p-Hoi (
Coptic: ⲡⲥⲟⲃⲧ ⲙ̀ⲡϩⲟⲓ "the wall of the moat") which had been given to the Coptic Church in 969 by
Jawhar
Jawhar is a city and a municipal council in Palghar district of Maharashtra state in Konkan division of India. Jawhar was a capital city of the erstwhile Koli princely state of Jawhar.
Situated in the ranges of the Western Ghats, Jawhar is ...
. This land was a replacement for the land that was taken from the church to be included in building the Palace of
Al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah as part of the planning of the new capital of Egypt,
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...
.
During the twelfth century the area contained ten Coptic churches, but during the rule of
Qalawun
( ar, قلاوون الصالحي, – November 10, 1290) was the seventh Bahri Mamluk sultan; he ruled Egypt from 1279 to 1290.
He was called (, "Qalāwūn the Victorious").
Biography and rise to power
Qalawun was a Kipchak, ancient Turki ...
on 18 February 1280, the churches were destroyed by Muslims who persecuted the Copts. Two churches were subsequently built in the area under the rule of his son.
In 1943, the governorate of Cairo attempted to expropriate the area for public use. This was opposed by the
General Congregation Council led by its secretary at the time,
Habib Elmasry. The campaign proved successful as the Coptic Church maintained control of the land under the condition that a non-profit building be built on it in the following fifteen years. This condition spurred the building of the cathedral.
[St Abraam](_blank)
Office of the Coptic Orthodox Pope
The cathedral is where
Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria has his office; thus, security is normally high here. However, on 11 December 2016, during the Muslim festival of
Mawlid, the chapel near the cathedral was the venue of an
Islamic terrorist attack that killed at least 25 people, most of them women and children. This attack is a copycat of various other earlier attacks against Coptic churches in Egypt.
Architecture
The cathedral is considered a unique example of architectural evolution which includes seven churches of which some have a great historic value such as the Church of
St. Rewiss. The Cathedral represents the rapid development of
Coptic architecture
Coptic architecture is the architecture of the Coptic Christians, who form the majority of Christians in Egypt.
Coptic churches range from great cathedrals such as Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral to the smallest churches in rural village ...
, as the famous Coptic civil engineer
Michel Bakhoum contributed in its structural design. It has a capacity for 5,000 worshipers.
Relics of Saint Mark
Before the completion of the cathedral, the
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
* Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
* Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...
pontiff of the time,
Pope Paul VI
Pope Paul VI ( la, Paulus VI; it, Paolo VI; born Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini, ; 26 September 18976 August 1978) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in Augus ...
, returned part of
St. Mark's
relics, which were stolen from Egypt in the year 828 to
Venice, Italy. These relics were taken to the newly constructed Cathedral, where they were placed in a specially-built
shrine
A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon, or similar figure of respect, wherein they ...
brightly decorated with
Copt
Copts ( cop, ⲛⲓⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ; ar, الْقِبْط ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group indigenous to North Africa who have primarily inhabited the area of modern Egypt and Sudan since antiquity. Most ethnic Copts are Co ...
ic icons, where they have remained until the present time.
Inauguration ceremony
The inauguration of the new Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral took place on 25 June 1968
in a ceremony hosted by Pope Cyril VI and attended by
Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser and
Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie
Haile Selassie I ( gez, ቀዳማዊ ኀይለ ሥላሴ, Qädamawi Häylä Səllasé, ; born Tafari Makonnen; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia (' ...
, among other foreign clergy members from other churches.
Burials
*
Athanasius of Alexandria
See also
*
Botroseya Church bombing / 2016 Cairo Church bombing
*
2017 Palm Sunday church bombings
On Palm Sunday, 9 April 2017, twin suicide bombings took place at St. George's Church in the northern Egyptian city of Tanta on the Nile delta, and Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral, the principal church in Alexandria, seat of the Copti ...
*
List of large Orthodox cathedrals
Notes
References
{{Coord, 30, 04, 20, N, 31, 16, 32, E, display=title, region:EG_type:landmark_source:dewiki
Mark Cathedral in Cairo
Cathedrals in Cairo
Coptic architecture
Oriental Orthodox congregations established in the 20th century
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the Capital city, capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, List of ...
20th-century Oriental Orthodox church buildings
Churches completed in 1968
Church buildings with domes
20th-century churches in Egypt