In Old Cairo stands a peculiar structure; an oddly-constructed gate, built with influences from Egyptian, Roman, and Babylonian architecture, looms over the dusty streets, much the same as it has done for some 1,700 years.
This alabaster-white edifice is Saint Virgin Mary's Coptic Church, known more popularly as the Hanging Church. It earns this nickname by being formed from the remnants of a gate constructed during the Roman occupation of Egypt known as the Babylonian Gate. The Romans, in turn, constructed the gate (and the fortress connected to it) to mirror the design of the legendary Hanging Gardens of Babylon--even then, already a near-mythological structure. The nave of the church now sits directly over the gate passage; quiet parishioners can hear the traffic of the street beneath their feet. The two bell towers adjacent the main structure are fairly recent constructions, dating to the nineteenth century, but the church itself goes back much further. A church existed on or near the site as early as the third century AD, though by the time of the patriarchate of Isaac I in 690 this structure had long since fallen into decay; though he probably did not live to see it completed, Isaac I commissioned the present Hanging Church's construction. Pope Abraham I ordered the church restored in 975; this would become the first of many restorations, as the importance of the church increased. Traditionally, the seat of the Coptic patriarchate had been in Alexandria; but with Arab invaders pushing into Egypt during the tenth and eleventh centuries, the pontificate and many more prominent bishops moved to Cairo. From 1047 onwards, the Hanging Church became the official residence of the Coptic Pope, an honor it continues to bear today. The church's latest restoration, which focused on it's grounds and exterior, was completed in 2011. It is considered by many to be the oldest church in Egypt, and at the very least the oldest continuously-existing church. While much of the parish's history can be measured in pontificates, coronations, dates, and wars, it's spiritual history is impressive as well; the church has reportedly been the site of several Marian apparitions, most famously to Pope Abraham in 970. The old fortress-church displays an astounding 110 icons throughout it's interior, dating from the eighth century AD to the eighteenth. An unknown number of relics are stored in it's crypts and vaults; rumors abound, though nothing is certain. Some say the bones of Saint Mark the Apostle lie there; others, a fragment of the True Cross. Whatever the full truth may be, one thing remains clear: the Copts of Cairo have a towering lineage, a continuity of culture and faith which stretches back nearly two thousand years. The Hanging Church of Cairo stands as a stark visual reminder of this fact: built on the ruins of a dead empire, surrounded by a city which is more of a layer cake than a single homogeneous entity, it stands still and unchanging, bearing silent testament to the triumph of simple faith over the works of men. If the walls could speak, I would imagine they would utter the ethereal watchwords of the Carthusians: Stat Crux dum volvitur orbis. The Cross stands still, as the world turns. Comments are closed.
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