Coptic Church, The Church of Abu Serga at old cairo
8/02/2014 04:00:00 PM
Hello everybody
,in this article we are going to share
with you information about
one of the most important ancient Coptic churches
and its the church of Abu Serga
so lets start the tour
With
the
importance of this church
1-The church has
great historical importance, since it is believed to have been built on the
spot or the crypt where the Holy Family
rested in this crypt during their journey in Egypt.
2- Inside the church
also was found the oldest wooden altar.
3-It is also
considered a place of election of many patriarchs of the Coptic Church
from the 8th to the 9th century beginning with Patriarch
Isaac (681-692).
4-it is the Episcopal
church of Cairo, Many bishops were consecrated in the Church until the
reign of Patriarch Christodulus (1047-1077).
as we sow this
church was a witness on many important events in the Coptic church
And now lets talk
about
The Location
of the church
The church is located
within the Roman fortress of Babylon in old Cairo district just next to the church of Saint Barbara and
you can reach it by taking the underground trains till the station of Mar-gerges
Where you will find
many ancient churches like the hanging church ,saint Barbara, monastery of
Margerges and our church of abu serga . and more
So what about
Name of the
church:
The church is known
as the church of saint Serguis and Bacchus or the church of Abu Serga , because
this church was built in their commemoration.
Who are saint Serguis
and Bacchus:
They were
soldier-saints in the roman army, they refused to make offering to the pagan
roman gods, so the roman started a long series of torture, until they were
beheaded, in 303 in Syria by the roman emperor Maximanus so they were
considered martyrs and the church held
their names.
the church
through the ages
The Church of Saints
Sergius and Bacchus (Abu Serga) dates back to the 4th century so it is
considered the oldest Christian church to be survived in Cairo.
It was burned during the
fire of Fustat during the
reign of Marwan II around
750. It was then restored during the 8th century.
The church was
rebuilt and restored constantly since medieval times. It was recently restored
by the supreme council of antiquities which made a restoration in the crypt.
The
Architectural Design of the Church:
The church follows in
its building the basilican shape. It composed of a central nave flanked
by two aisles with a western return aisle (narthex), tripartite sanctuary
The façade of the
church is built from burned brick
Interior of the
church:
when we enter the church we will find out that
the church contains central nave which is flanked by two aisles with a western return aisle (narthex), the nave is
separated from the side asles by two rows of six columns Eleven of these unique
columns, ornamented with faint painted decorations of probably apostles or
saints, are marble, while one is of red granite.
The 12th columns
here referring to the twelve apostles.
The ceiling of the nave is gamalon or
gable (vaulted) in shape while the ceiling of the sided aisles is flat in
shape.
The original pulpit
was replaced by a copy of the ambon (a pulpit) in the church of Saint Barbara.
The original pulpit was made of wood, now it is in the Coptic museum, the
recent pulpit is made out of marble.
There was probably a
choir, a transverse room preceding the sanctuary, in front of the sanctuary but
which no longer exists.
The sanctuary
iconostasis, a screen separating the sanctuary from the rest of the church on
which icons are usually displayed, is a beautiful work of art which probably
dates to the 12th or 13th century.
It is made of wood, inlaid with ivory and
ebony, and decorated with fine arabesque designs.
At the Eastern end
there is a tripartite sanctuary that
Within the sanctuary
is an altar surmounted by a wooden canopy supported by four pillars. On the
east wall of the sanctuary rises a fine, semi-circular tribune with seven
steps.
Also,the oldest wooden
altar in Egypt was found in the church, but it is now in the Coptic Museum. The
apse is encrusted with strips of marble and decorated with mosaics.
There are some wooden
panels within the church that are of earlier date, and depict fine scenes of
saints on horseback, the Nativity and the Last Supper. There are a number of
other old icons that date, perhaps, to the 17th century.
They show various scenes depicting the life
of Christ, the Virgin Mary and some of the saints.
The Crypt of the Church
This crypt contains
the remains of the original church where it is said that the Holy Family stayed
during the flight to Egypt. It measures 6 meters long, by 5 meters wide and is
2.5 meters high. Within its north, south and east walls are niches.
Two rows of columns
were added to form a nave with two aisles.
Each rows consists of 5 columns
Originally this
crypt, which is under the modern sanctuary, was itself the sanctuary of the
church, but became the crypt after the larger church was built Unfortunately,
this area of the church has sometimes been inaccessible due to the presence of
subterranean water.
Here we finish our first tour in church of Abu Serga and We Hope you Enoy it
Also we welcome your comments and suggestions and wait for the next tour on next Week 4:00 pm( Cairo time zone +2)
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