Coptic Cairo

Coordinates: 30°00′23″N 31°13′54″E / 30.00628°N 31.231781°E / 30.00628; 31.231781
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The Hanging Church is one of Cairo's most famous Coptic Orthodox Churches

Coptic Cairo is a part of

Muslim conquest of Egypt
in the 7th century.

History

There is evidence of settlement in the area as early as the 6th century BC, when Persians built a fort on the Nile, north of

Ptolemaic period, Babylon and its people were mostly forgotten.[3]

It is traditionally held that the

St. Mark arrived in Alexandria, becoming the first Patriarch, though the religion remained underground during the rule of the Romans.[5] As the local population began to organize towards a revolt, the Romans, recognising the strategic importance of the region, took over the fort and relocated it nearby as the Babylon Fortress.[6] Trajan reopened the canal to the Red Sea, bringing increased trade, though Egypt remained a backwater as far as the Romans were concerned.[5]

Under the Romans, St. Mark and his successors were able to convert a substantial portion of the population from pagan beliefs to Christianity. As the Christian communities in Egypt grew, they were subjected to persecution by the Romans, under Emperor

Coptic Church later separated from the church of the Romans and the Byzantines. During the reign of Arcadius (395-408), a number of churches were built in Old Cairo.[7]

Interior of the Church of Saint Barbara, one of the oldest preserved churches in Cairo

When the Muslim Arabs conquered Egypt in the 7th century, they established a new city, Fustat, outside the walls of the Babylon Fortress. Fustat became the administrative capital of Egypt and replaced Alexandria as its most important city.[8][9] In the early years of Arab rule, the Copts were allowed to build several churches within the old fortress area.[10] Some of the oldest churches in Cairo, the Church of Saint Barbara and the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus are dated to around this time, from the late 7th or early 8th century.[11]

There may have also been a Jewish presence in the area in the early period of Muslim rule. A traditional account claims that the Ben Ezra Synagogue was converted from a church sold to the Jews by the Coptic community in 882 in order to pay a tribute demanded by the governor of Egypt, Ahmad Ibn Tulun.[12] This story, however, is generally not accepted at face value by modern scholars.[12][13] Documents in the Cairo Geniza provide evidence of a possible Jewish presence as early as the 6th century,[12] though the current building is the result of a reconstruction in the 1890s.[14]

In the

Coptic pope to stay close to the capital.[15][16] The new seat of the Patriarchate became the Church of the Virgin, now known as the Hanging Church, and the Saint Mercurius Church (located a short distance north of the old fortress). These two churches served as the residences of the Coptic pope and as venues for the consecrations of new popes and other important religious events. In the 14th century, the seat was moved to the Church of the Virgin Mary in Harat Zuwayla, in what was then central Cairo.[16][17]

The Convent of Saint George

With the fall of the Fatimids and the rise of the Ayyubid dynasty in the 12th century, Muslim authorities became less tolerant and open-minded towards Christians and the construction of any new churches was strictly forbidden.[18] Despite this, Coptic art and literature still flourished. A number of western European travelers also visited Old Cairo during this period and wrote descriptions of the ancient fortress and its churches. The interiors of churches were embellished with new furnishings and works of art, including the elaborate wooden altar screens seen in some of the churches here today.[19]

During the 17th century, as the religious climate under the Ottomans became more open again, restoration and reconstruction of churches resumed on a more significant scale. In addition to the building activity, patronage of the arts grew and a large number of church icons preserved today were commissioned in the 18th and 19th centuries.[20]

By the late 19th century, however, many churches were suffering from neglect. The situation was improved in part thanks to the Comité de Conservation des Monuments de l'Art Arabe, an agency established in 1881 to restore and conserve Cairo's historic monuments. Starting in 1897, the Comité was given a budget to safeguard Coptic monuments in particular, aided by funding from the Coptic patriarchate.[21] Another aspect of this conservation effort was the opening of the Coptic Museum in 1910 in order to house and protect historic works of Coptic art, relevant artefacts from archeological excavations, and decorative architectural elements drawn from churches and houses around the country. It now houses the world's most important collection of Coptic art.[22][23][24]

Churches

Coptic Cairo is, to this day, a predominantly Christian area,[25] hosting many historically important churches:

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See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b Coptic Cairo egyptologyonline Archived 2007-12-14 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Beattie 2005, p. 63
  3. ^ Beattie 2005, pp. 64–65
  4. ^ Beattie 2005, p. 65
  5. ^ a b Beattie 2005, p. 66
  6. ISBN 1-85964-154-7
  7. ^ Kamil 1987, p. 81
  8. ^ Raymond, André. 1993. Le Caire. Fayard.
  9. ^ Kennedy, Hugh (2007). The Great Arab Conquests: How the Spread of Islam Changed the World We Live In. Weidenfeld & Nicolson.
  10. ^ Beattie 2005, pp. 67–69
  11. ^ Gabra et al. 2013, p. 75.
  12. ^ a b c Gabra et al. 2013, p. 37.
  13. ISBN 9780805242904
    .
  14. ISBN 9781317320326
    .
  15. ISBN 978-0-521-81113-2
    .
  16. ^
    ISBN 978-1926473123
    .
  17. ^ Gabra et al. 2013, pp. 80, 178, 182–183.
  18. ^ Gabra et al. 2013, p. 76.
  19. ^ Gabra et al. 2013, pp. 76–77.
  20. ^ Gabra et al. 2013, p. 77.
  21. ^ Gabra et al. 2013, pp. 78–79.
  22. ISBN 978-977-416-007-3
    .
  23. ^ Beattie 2005, pp. 75–76
  24. ^ Brief History, Coptic Museum, archived from the original on 2004-06-03, retrieved 2009-01-29
  25. ^ "Cairo travel". Archived from the original on 2008-07-09. Retrieved 2008-02-26.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Coptic Cairo.

30°00′23″N 31°13′54″E / 30.00628°N 31.231781°E / 30.00628; 31.231781

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