Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral (Alexandria)

Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral is a Coptic church in Alexandria, Egypt. It is the historical seat of the Pope of Alexandria, the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church.

The cathedral is said to stand on the site of the church founded by St. Mark the Evangelist in AD 60. St. Mark the Evangelist (author of the second Gospel) has been connected with the city of Alexandria since earliest Christian tradition. Coptic Christians believe he arrived in Alexandria around AD 60 and stayed for about seven years. During this time, Mark converted many to Christianity and performed many miracles. He is considered the founder of the church in Alexandria and the first Bishop of Alexandria. According to tradition, St. Mark was arrested during a festival of Serapis in AD 68 and martyred by being dragged through the streets. He was buried under the church he had founded.

Relics of Saint Mark

In 828, relics believed to be the body of St. Mark were stolen from Alexandria by Venetian merchants and taken to Venice. Copts believe that the head of St. Mark remains in a church named after him in Alexandria, and parts of his relics are in St. Mark's Cairo's Cathedral. The rest of what are believed to be his relics are in the St Mark's Basilica in Venice, Italy. Every year, on the 30th day of the month of Paopi, the Coptic Orthodox Church celebrates the commemoration of the consecration of the church of St. Mark, and the appearance of the head of the saint in the city of Alexandria. This takes place inside St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Alexandria, where the saint's head is preserved.

The head of St. Mark was moved around a great deal over the centuries, and has been lost for over 250 years. Some of the relics from the body of St. Mark, however, were returned to Alexandria from Rome in 1968 during the papacy of Coptic Pope Cyril VI.

The present St. Mark's Coptic Cathedral is of recent date, but is said to stand on the site of church founded by St. Mark himself.

History

In AD 311, before the martyrdom of Pope Peter the Last of Martyrs, he prayed a last prayer on the grave of Saint Mark, the church was then a little chapel on the eastern coast, and it contained bodies said to be of Saint Mark and some of his holy successors. The church was later enlarged in the days of Pope Achillas, the 18th Pope.

The church was greatly ruined in 641 when the Arabs invaded Egypt. In 680 Pope John III rebuilt the church. In 828, the body of Saint Mark was stolen by Italian sailors and was taken from Alexandria to Venice in Italy. However, Saint Mark's head remained in Alexandria.

The church was destroyed again in 1219, during the time of the crusades, then it was rebuilt once more. Sixteenth-century French explorer Pierre Belon mentions the founding of the church in 1547.

The church was pulled down during the French invasion of Alexandria in July 1798. The church was rebuilt and opened in 1819 by Pope Peter El Gawly in the time of Mohammed Ali Pasha. The church was renewed in the time of Pope Demetrius II and by the supervision of Bishop Marcos of El Behira in 1870. Between the years 1950–1952, in the time of Pope Yusab II, the church building was pulled down and another, larger building was built with reinforced concrete after the basilique style. The six marble pillars were transferred into the outer entrance of the church. The icon carrier was accurately cut into parts, each part given a number, and then it was cautiously returned to where it was originally. The two bell tower were not pulled down as they were reinforced with concrete and were decorated with beautiful Coptic engravings. Two new bells – brought from Italy – were provided, one for each bell tower.

Between 1985 and 1990, the church was widened from the western side after the former style with great accuracy, keeping the two bell tower in their places, so the entire area of the church was doubled. The six pillars were transferred to the new western entrance of the church supervised by Pope Shenouda III.

All Saints' Cathedral, Cairo

All Saints Cathedral, the mother church of the diocese, is one of the most-used Cathedrals within the Anglican Communion. In the heart of the Middle East and in the centre of a city with 26 million people, not far from Al Azhar, the hub for Sunni Muslims in the world, All Saints’ Cathedral, Cairo is located in a strategic and prosperous area, surrounded by crowded, underdeveloped areas.

As the spiritual centre of the Diocese, it is committed to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ in “words and deeds.” It is a “house of prayer for all nations.” It  is  the  centre  for  our Arabic, English and Sudanese congregations, youth ministry, children’s ministry,  women’s  ministry,  Alpha,  interfaith  dialogue,  ecumenical relations,  prison  ministry,  Boulac  community  development,  Tukul crafts, the Wady craft shop, a library, Refuge Egypt, and the Alexandria School of Theology.

All Saints was not the first Episcopal / Anglican church to be built in Egypt. St. Mark’s Church in Alexandria (later St. Mark’s Pro-Cathedral) was erected on land given by Mohammed Ali Pasha in 1839.

The presence of All Saints in Cairo goes back to 1862 when the Governor of Egypt, Mohammed Said Pasha, agreed with Prince Albert (later King Edward VII of Britain) to donate a land for the building of an Episcopal / Anglican church in Boulaq, Cairo. Before that date, the Anglicans worshiped in a room at the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate.

On 23 January 1878, All Saints Church was consecrated by The Rt. Rev. Samuel Gobat, the Bishop of Jerusalem.

In 1909, as All Saints became too small for the congregation, St. Mary’s Church in Garden City was consecrated. St. Mary’s was used by the Bishop as the Pro-Cathedral until 1938.

In 1928 King Fouad I of Egypt approved the sale of a piece of land to the Anglicans for the construction of a new Cathedral. In 1935 the land was handed over and in 1936, King Fouad I officially granted permission for the Anglicans to build their Cathedral at Maspero, along the banks of the Nile in Cairo (this is why she is called “The Cathedral on the Nile”).

The foundation stone was laid on 20 November 1936 by the Rt. Rev. Llewellyn Gwynne.

It is said that in response to the generosity of King Fouad I to the Anglican Community in Cairo, land was donated by King George VI to the Muslim community of London on which the Islamic Centre at Regent Park is now located. The land was given to the Egyptian Ambassador Nashaat Pasha at that time.

Dignitaries present at the opening of the Cathedral in 1938On 25 April 1938, the Feast of St. Mark the Evangelist, the patron saint of Egypt, The Rt. Rev. Llewellyn Gwynne, the Bishop of Egypt and Sudan, opened the Cathedral Church of All Saints in Cairo. The Most Rev. & Rt. Hon. Dr. William Temple, the Archbishop of York and Primate of England, consecrated All Saints Cathedral. It is worth mentioning that King Farouk I donated two copper doors to the Cathedral.

In 1956 when the British left Egypt, the Egyptian Anglicans (Archdeacon Adeeb Shammas, Mr. Habib Said, and Mr. Ibrahim Wakid) continued to worship in the church.

Under President Anwar Sadat the project of 6th of October Bridge necessitated the transfer of All Saints Cathedral in Maspero to another place. Therefore, the Governor of Cairo made an agreement with Archdeacon Isaaq Mussad, the representative of the Diocese at that time, to demolish the All Saints Cathedral in Maspero and for the Government of Cairo to build the new Cathedral on another piece of land.

President Anwar Sadat issued a decree in 1974 to rebuild the Anglican Cathedral at the present site in Zamalek. On 1 July 1977, the foundation stone of the new Cathedral Church of All Saints was laid by Bishop Isaaq Musaad.

On 25 April 1988, All Saints Cathedral in Cairo was consecrated by The Rt. Rev. Ghais Abdel Malek.

Since then, All Saints has become not only a house for prayer but also a home to many ministries, such as The Alexandria School of Theology, Refuge Egypt, The Episcopal Training Centre, EpiscoCare, The Wady Shop, the Cathedral Library, Ecumenical Relations, Interfaith Office, and the Prison Ministry. Many of these ministries serve the whole community, Christians and Muslims, Egyptians and Expatriates. It is truly a house for all nations and it fulfills our aim to provide holistic service.

Archbishop of York in his colourful robes at the 75th anniversary celebrationsToday, and at the end of the story of the first 75 years, we remember with joy and affection this great heritage of faithfulness, devotion and generosity.

The cathedral compound also houses the Diocesan and Bishop's offices and projects and services – including the Diocese NGO EpiscoCare and Refuge Egypt, which serves Cairo's refugee communities. The church hosts a variety of congregations – with Arabic, English and Sudanese being the largest, although other communities also use the premises for worship.

The church is constructed in concrete and was designed in the shape of a cross at ground level and a crown at the top. Its roof is visible around Zamalek and was described by the Cairo Observer as reminiscent of a lotus flower. It was designed by Egyptian architects Dr. Awad Kamel and Selim Kamel, who also created the design for Cairo's Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral (Cathedral of Abbasiya).

Saints Sergius and Bacchus Church (Abu Serga)

Saints Sergius and Bacchus Church, also known as Abu Serga, in Coptic Cairo is one of the oldest Coptic churches in Egypt, dating back to the 4th century. The church owes its fame to having been constructed upon the crypt of the Holy Family where they stayed for three weeks during their sojourn in Egypt.

According to a biblical narration by evangelist Matthew (Chapter 2), Virgin Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus fled from Palestine to Egypt out of fear from the persecution of the Jewish King Herod the Great. The Holy Family traveled as far as Assiut (“Deir el Muharraq”) and on their way back home spent some weeks in Old Cairo.

Abu Sarga is dedicated to the two Saints Sergius and Bacchus who served as soldiers in the Roman Army. They were faithful followers of the Lord Jesus and refused to worship the Roman gods. For their Christian belief, Sergius and Bacchus eventually suffered martyrdom in Syria in 296 during the reign of the Roman Emperor Maximinus. Their relics are partly kept in Abu Sarga and others are buried in Syria.

From the 9th to the 12th century, significant patriarchs were elected and several bishops consecrated in Abu Sarga until the 11th century. The building was probably constructed during the 5th century. It was burned during the fire of Fustat during the reign of Marwan II around 750. It was then restored during the 8th century, and has been rebuilt and restored constantly since medieval times (11th and 17th century, the last restoration was undertaken in 2000), it still preserves its Medieval charm.

It is still considered to be a model of the early Coptic churches and its basilican style is easily recognizable. This church resembles religious structures in Constantinople and Rome. It has two aisles with a western return aisle (a passage at the west end of the church), along with a tripartite sanctuary that measures 17 x 27 meters and is 15 meters high. 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. There was probably a khurus, a transverse room preceding the sanctuary, in front of the sanctuary but which no longer exists.
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In much the same style as the Hanging Church, two rows of six columns each separate the aisles from the nave. Eleven of these unique columns, with faint painted decorations of probably apostles or saints, are marble, while one is of red granite. While the pulpit was replaced by a copy of the ambon (a pulpit) in the church of Saint Barbara, some of the older wooden pulpit now reside in the Coptic Museum in Cairo, while a few others are in the British Museum. Also, the oldest wooden altar in Egypt was found in the church, but it too is now in the Coptic Museum.

 However, 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. The several panels are inlaid with ivory and ebony, and covered in a wonderful relief that features arabesque designs. 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 any number of other relatively 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.

 This crypt contains the remains of the original church where tradition says the Holy Family lived. Unfortunately, this area of the church has sometimes been inaccessible due to the presence of subterranean water. 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. It measures six meters long, by five meters wide and is 2.5 meters high. Within its north, south and east walls are niches. Sometime after the crypt was originally built, two rows of slender columns were erected to form a nave with two aisles.

 Left: The stairs leading down into the crypt where it is believed the Holy Family stayed during the flight to Egypt;

Above Right: The floor plan of the crypt below the main sanctuary of the more modern structure

Abu Sarga is based on a basilican structure with a nave and two side aisles. The west end of the church is occupied by a return aisle. Twelve columns are set between the nave and the aisles, eleven of which are made of white marble and only one is of red granite. Some of the marble columns show clear traces of figures most likely representing saints. Corinthian capitals originating from older buildings are placed between the column shafts and the wooden architraves. On the east side of the church, a tripartite sanctuary is separated from the congregation hall by an impressive wooden screen which is beautifully decorated with ebony and ivory and whose oldest part dates back to the 13th century. Exceptional icons with various scenes from the life of Christ, Virgin Mary and diverse saints embellish the walls of Abu Sarga. Inside its main sancturary a wooden canopy supported by four pillars is placed above the altar and painted with biblical scenes, among them are Jesus Pantocrator and Archangel Gabriel appearing to Virgin Mary. The apse behind the altar is richly decorated with strips of marble and mosaics. A clerical seat is incorporated into the apse and can be reached by seven steps. 

Abu Sarga once kept Egypt’s oldest altar which was transferred to the Coptic Museum. The roof is one of the most interesting features of the church and said to have been constructed in the shape of Noah’s ark. On the northwest side of the church is a baptistry. The marble ambon is a modern copy of the one in the neighbouring church of St. Barbara. Parts of the original wooden pulpit were brought to the Coptic Museum, and also to the British Museum in London. Above the side and return aisles is a gallery with two chapels (one dedicated to Sergius and Bacchus, the other to Ibraham, Isaac and Jacob) that are used for private service and during the fasting of Easter.

Being tied to the Holy Family, the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus continues to be a draw for Christian visitors, as it has since medieval times. On the 24th day of the Coptic month called Bachons, which corresponds to the first day of June in the western calendar, the Coptic Church commemorates the Holy Family's flight into Egypt. A mass is still held on that day in this ancient church.

The Church of St. George - Cairo

The Church of St. George was built in the 10th century, but a fire destroyed the original structure. The present church dates only from 1904.

The unique Church of St. George is the only round church found in Egypt. Built in the 10th century on top of a Roman tower of the fortified town called Babylon, the church is connected to the Monastery of St. George and is the seat of the Greek Patriarchate of Alexandria. Ascend the steps along the Roman towers and see a relief of St. George slaying a dragon on the outer brickwork of the wall. Inside, the austere ancient artwork grace the church with depictions of St. George and his quest to defend Christianity.  The church can be reached through a flight of stairs and is crowned by an impressive dome. Tradition has it that St. George was kept in a prison close to the church and martyred there.

The first doorway north of the Coptic Museum gate leads to the Greek Orthodox Monastery and Church of St George. St George (Mar Girgis) is one of the region’s most popular Christian saints. A Palestinian conscript in the Roman army, he was executed in AD 303 for resisting Emperor Diocletian’s decree forbidding the practice of Christianity. There has been a church dedicated to him in Coptic Cairo since the 10th century; this one dates from 1909.

The origins of the monastery are obscure but are believe to date from the seventh century. The main hall of the monastery dates from the tenth century and displays a tall door, some 7.6 meters, that leads to the interior of the building. Off the main hall is a room, set aside as a shrine, that according to tradition contains the chains that were placed on St. George as part of the tortures to which he was sentenced after his trial under the Persian King Dadianos.

Although St. George is the only round church in Egypt, but unlike the original Church of the Holy Sepulchre and its many imitators (such as Rome's Santa Stefano Rotondo and London's Temple Church), this is only for practical reasons - it is built atop the foundations of a Roman round tower.

Inside, the dark interior is heavy with incense and pierced by sunbeams that filter through its stained glass windows. A (closed) flight of steps leads down into the old Roman tower, once believed to be "peopled by devils."

Next door, the Monastery of St. George is now the seat of the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria. The monastery rarely admits tourists. Only the chapel which is dedicated to St. George and the large room with an anteroom offer any historical and artistic interest. The chapel is said to have originally been a palace dating from the Mamluk period, which was transformed into a church probably in the fourteenth or fifteenth century. Here, St. George's icon is venerated. The large room with an anteroom is separated from the chapel by a double door of surprising height measuring some seven meters. Animal figures adorn the door.

The nuns in charge of the chapel offer for the veneration of the faithful an iron collar and chain. This wonder-working chain, some 4.2 meters long, is attached to the south wall of the inner room of the shrine. Normally the chain is applied to women, though men sometimes seek the blessings of the saint through the chain. Whomever places the halter of the chain around his neck and winds the chain around his body, kissing the chain piously and offering prayers to Saint George, is considered to be in a state of exceptional grace.

Ever since the fifth century, Western Christians have venerated the chains of the apostle Peter in the Basilica of Saint Peter of the Chains, on the Esquiline in Rome. However, in the Middle East, it is not the chains of St. Peter but of Saint George that are believed to posses miraculous powers to cure the demon-possessed and paralytics. The New Testament narrative of the Gadarene demoniac "who had often been bound with fetters and chains" (Mark 5:3-4) demonstrates that chains were used to restrain the mentally sick. A parallel story in the Coptic tradition tells of Theophanes (952-56), the sixtieth patriarch of Alexandria, who was so overcome by anger that he took off his vestments and the skhema (a four-meter long plaited leather girdle worn by monks), and an unclean spirit descended upon him and struck him down, so that he was bound with iron chains for the rest of his life. The origins of the Coptic attachment to the chains of Saint George are in the Byzantine tradition. Since the seventeenth century, the chains of Saint George in the Greek Orthodox Convent of Saint George have been used to tie up those suffering from nervous disorders, anxiety neuroses, conversion hysteria, obsessional neuroses and even schizophrenic psychoses.

Today, large numbers of Copts and even Muslims visit the Shrine of the Chains of Saint George in the Convent on Fridays and Sundays. The "Coptic chains" have assumed the function of the medieval chain-cult. At the convent, Greeks from Greece, Lebanon, Cyprus and Egypt used to assemble for the panegyris of Saint George on the night of April 22 to behold the apparition of the celestial rider on his white horse above the dome of the old church. Apparently the nuns of the old convent have continued the age-old cult.

Nearby the monastery is the Church of St. George. The Greek Church of St. George is one of the few round churches still in existence in the East, formed from it's placement atop a rounded Roman tower. The Holy Family is said to have taken shelter in a place now covered by the Church. There is a long set of steps that lead up to the church that are built on the outer wall of the Roman towers. As one ascend these steps, there can be found a relief of St. George and the dragon wrapped around the outer brickwork of the tower. The church had been burned many times. It burned in 1904 and the current structure was built in 1909, but still has some of the older structure's beautiful stained-glass windows. For centuries, the church alternated between ownership by the Copts and the Greek, but since the 15th century it has remained Greek Orthodox

Sadly, the original Church of St. George that burned was considered one of the most beautiful and richest in the Roman fortress of Babylon. Traditionally, the earliest church was built in 684 by Athanasius, who was a wealthy scribe. During the Papacy of Pope Gabriel (88th Patriarch) the relics of the saint were relocated to his well-known church in Old Cairo.

Confusingly, just down the road is another Church of St. George and a Convent of St. George, the latter of which opens its chapel to visitors (daily 9-4) and has some English-speaking nuns. Both of these institutions are Coptic Orthodox.

St. George's celebration of the Moulid of Mari Girgis (St. George's Day) on April 23 is one of the largest Coptic festivals in Cairo - despite the fact that the church is Greek, not Coptic.

Hanging Church- Cairo

The Hanging Church is considered the oldest church in the area of Al-Fustat (Old Cairo).

It is known as Al-Muallaka (the hanging) because it was built on the ruins of two old towers that remained from an old fortress called the Fortress of Babylon. It was dedicated to The Virgin Mary and St. Dimiana.

It dates back to the end of the 3rd Century A.D and the beginning of the 4th Century A.D, but it has been reconstructed and renovated several times since. Some historians believe that it was built earlier, and it might have been a Roman Temple that was later converted to a Roman Church, and at a later date still, it became a Coptic Church. This was proved by the discovery, in 1984, of the scenes, on the western side of the right aisle of the church, which contained pagan Roman Gods, but layers of plaster had covered them.

This church has played an important role in the history of the Coptic Church because it became the seat of the Patriarchs after transferring it from Alexandria to Al-Fustat. The 66th patriarch Anba Christodolos (1039-1079 A.D) was the first Pope to chant the Holy Liturgy in the church. This was maintained in El-Mullaka Church until the 14th Century, when it was transferred to Abu Sefein church.hanging church

There are 110 icons here, the oldest of which dates back to the 8th Century, but most of them date to the 18th Century. Nakhla Al- Baraty Bey gave some of them as gifts, in 1898 A.D, when he was the overseer of the church.

The French monk Vansleb, who was sent to Egypt in 1671 by King Louis XIV in order to study the state of the churches and the monasteries of Egypt, mentioned that he had seen on one of the walls of the Hanging Church, inscriptions written by the hand of the great Muslim commander Amr Ibn El-As, asking the Muslim people to treat this church with respect.

The Plan of the Church:

It takes the shape of a basilica and it has a wooden roof in the shape of Noah's Ark.

The church was once very spacious but it became much smaller, throughout the ages, after several modifications. Obeid Bin Khozam did the last modification in 1755 A.D. It now measures 23.5m in length, 18.5in width and 9.5m in height.

It consists of the following elements:

1- Entrance known as The narthex.

2- The nave and the two aisles.

3- The three Sanctuaries (located to the east of the church, the most important being the middle one, which is dedicated to The Virgin Mary)

Some steps lead to the middle entrance. On both sides of this entrance there is a door that leads to 2 upper floors, dedicated to the dwelling of the priest.

In front of the entrance there is a vestibule that was used as a resting place for visitors.

Inside, the southern aisle is separated from the nave by 8 marble columns, linked from above with a wooden architrave, which is supported on arches. The northern aisle is also separated from the nave by 8 marble columns but there is no architrave.

Nearly in the middle of the southern aisle there is a door, which leads to a small church with a sanctuary. Inside this small church there is a baptistery, which is a deep basin of reddish granite, which probably dates back to the 5th Century. It is decorated for the sign of water in Hieroglyphics.

Of the three sanctuaries situated on the eastern side, the most important is the middle one, which is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. In the centre of this main sanctuary there is an altar made of marble. Above it there is a wooden dome, supported by 4 marble columns, and decorated with religious scenes, such as Jesus on his throne surrounded by the four evangelist saints, the disciples, and angels.

In front of the middle altar, in the nave of the church, is a pulpit that stands on 15 columns, decorated with reliefs and mosaics, symbolically representing Jesus, the 12 Disciples, John the Baptist and the Virgin Mary.

There are 7 altars in the Church, 3 of them situated in the main sanctuary, and 3 located in the right sanctuary, among which is the altar of Tecla Hymanot, the Ethiopian Saint, and another that was recently discovered in the northern side.

Saint Sofia Church, Sofia

The Saint Sofia Church  is the second oldest church in the Bulgarian capital Sofia, dating to the 4th-6th century. In the predecessor building took place the Council of Serdica held most probably in 343 and attended by 316 bishops. In the 14th century, the church gave its name to the city, previously known as Sredets.

The church was built on the site of several earlier churches from 4th c. and places of worship dating back to the days when it was the necropolis of the Roman town of Serdica. In the 2nd century, it was the location of a Roman theatre. Over the next few centuries, several other churches were constructed, only to be destroyed by invading forces such as the Goths and the Huns. The basic cross design of the present basilica, with its two east towers and one tower-cupola, is believed to be the fifth structure to be constructed on the site and was built during the reign of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I in the middle of the 6th century (527-565). It is thus a contemporary of the better-known Hagia Sophia church in Constantinople.

During the Second Bulgarian Empire (spanning the 12th to 14th centuries), the structure acquired the status of a metropolitan church. In the 14th century, the church gave its name to the city. In the 16th century, during Ottoman rule, the church was converted into a mosque: the original 12th-century frescoes were destroyed and minarets were added. In the 19th century two earthquakes destroyed one of the minarets and the mosque was abandoned. Restoration work was begun after 1900.

The Saint Sofia Church is now one of the most valuable pieces of Early Christian architecture in Southeastern Europe. The present building is a cross basilica with three altars. The floor of the church is covered with complex Early Christian ornamental or flora and fauna-themed mosaics. The Saint Sofia Church stands in the middle of an ancient necropolis and many tombs have been unearthed both under and near the church. Some of the tombs even feature frescoes.

Because Saint Sophia represents the Divine Wisdom along with a historical saint (Sophia the Martyr), icons within the church depict Sophia as Christ Emmanuel, a young figure of Christ seated on a rainbow. The church also displays icons of historical saints, including St. George and St. Vladimir. In modern times it is mistakenly considered by some that the church is named in honour of the 2nd-century Roman saint Sophia the Martyr, who has in recent years even become the city's patron saint, and not after the Divine Wisdom (Hagia Sophia).

According to popular lore, Saint Sophia's miraculous powers protected the building over the centuries, warding off human invasions and natural disasters to keep the church as an example of the elegant, austere, and symmetrical architecture of the age.

Church of Saint Alexander Nevskiy, Jerusalem

The Church of St Alexander Nevsky — named after a 13th-century Russian warrior-prince — is often overlooked because its façade resembles an elegant residence or hotel rather than a church.
The tall and narrow façade, with solid security doors bearing notices in Russian, is at 25 Souq al-Dabbagha, about 70 metres from the entrance to the Holy Sepulchre courtyard.

Excavations here in 1883 — before the church was built — attracted worldwide attention, leading to the site becoming known as the “Russian Excavations”.

Particular attention focused on the discovery of a gate threshold believed by the excavators to belong to the Judgement Gate by which Jesus left the city on the way to the hill of Calvary (now contained within the Holy Sepulchre church). Modern archaeologists consider the gate probably dates from the 2nd century.

The excavators also uncovered remains of the easternmost parts of Constantine’s 4th-century church, including the wide staircase that led to the church entrance.

As New Testament scholar Jerome Murphy-O’Connor put it, what was found “corresponds exactly to the eastern end of the Constantinian Holy Sepulchre as depicted in the sixth-century Madaba Map”.

The site on which the Church of St Alexander Nevsky stands was purchased in 1857 by the Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, a lay organisation founded to assist faithful of the Russian Orthodox Church in the Holy Land.

The idea was to build a Russian consulate and a hostel for pilgrims, who were arriving in their thousands at the port of Jaffa and often walking the 70 kilometres to Jerusalem.

When workers digging the foundations uncovered historical remains, construction was halted. Eventually the consulate and hostel were built outside the Old City, at a site now known as the Russian Compound, and a church was built over the ruins in Souq al-Dabbagha.

Because the excavations and the church were funded by the Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, the property gained the popular name of the “Alexander Hospice”.

Entering the excavated area in the basement of the church, one descends stairs to an archway. The right-hand column is from the 11th century; the stonework on the left is part of an entrance to the main forum established by the emperor Hadrian when he rebuilt Jerusalem as a Roman colony in the 2nd century.

Descending through the arch and turning left, one sees on the left a reconstruction of the wide stairway that led to the original Church of the Holy Sepulchre — which was much bigger than the present basilica.

Straight ahead, under a glass covering, is the gate threshold once thought to have been where Jesus left the city on the way to Calvary. This threshold may have been part of an arch built by Hadrian, but it was later re-used as an entrance to the Holy Sepulchre.

Next to the threshold is a large piece of the rock of Calvary, purchased when the church was built. Above it a crucifix has been fixed.

In the Roman wall to the left is an opening called the Eye of the Needle, intended for travellers who arrived after the gate was closed for the night.

On the other side of the threshold are the remains of another entrance to the Holy Sepulchre, cut into a Roman wall by Constantine’s engineers.

(Massive remnants of the main entrance to the Holy Sepulchre are still further ahead, in the adjoining property of Zalatimo’s sweetshop on Souq Khan al-Zeit.)

At the top of the wide stairway is a sweeping depiction of Jesus carrying his cross. Behind it is a chapel, accessible from the ground floor.

The iconostasis, decorated in black and gold, dominates the chapel. Around the walls are hung paintings of Gospel scenes and, above these, a series of icons of Russian Orthodox saints.

The dedication of the chapel to St Alexander Nevsky honoured an exceptional leader of medieval Russia, who was accorded legendary status for his military victories over German and Swedish invaders. He was proclaimed a saint of the Russian Orthodox Church in 1547.

Administered by: Imperial Russian Orthodox Palestine Society
Tel.: 02-627-4952
Open: 9am-6pm

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia

The St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is a Bulgarian Orthodox cathedral in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. Built in Neo-Byzantine style, it serves as the cathedral church of the Patriarch of Bulgaria and it is one of the largest Eastern Orthodox cathedrals in the world, as well as one of Sofia's symbols and primary tourist attractions. The St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia occupies an area of 3,170 square metres (34,100 sq ft) and can hold 10,000 people inside. It is the second-largest cathedral located on the Balkan Peninsula, after the Cathedral of Saint Sava in Belgrade.

The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral is a cross-domed basilica featuring an emphasized central dome. The cathedral's gold-plated dome is 45 m high (148 ft), with the bell tower reaching 53 metres (174 ft). The temple has 12 bells with total weight of 23 tons, the heaviest weighing 12 tons and the lightest 10 kilograms (22 lb). The interior is decorated with Italian marble in various colours, Brazilian onyx, alabaster, and other luxurious materials. The central dome has the Lord's Prayer inscribed around it, with thin gold letters.

The construction of the St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral started in 1882 (having been planned since 19 February, 1879), when the foundation stone was laid, but most of it was built between 1904 and 1912. Saint Alexander Nevsky was a Russian prince. The cathedral was created in honour to the Russian soldiers who died during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, as a result of which Bulgaria was liberated from Ottoman rule.

The cathedral was designed by Alexander Pomerantsev, aided by Alexander Smirnov and Alexander Yakovlev, as the initial 1884-1885 project of Ivan Bogomolov was radically changed by Pomerantsev. The final design was finished in 1898, and the construction and decoration were done by a team of Bulgarian, Russian, Austro-Hungarian and other European artists, architects and workers, including the aforementioned architects, as well as Petko Momchilov, Yordan Milanov, Haralampi Tachev, Ivan Mrkvička, Vasily Bolotnov, Nikolay Bruni, Alexander Kiselyov, Anton Mitov and many others.

The marble parts and the lighting fixtures were created in Munich, the metal elements for the gates in Berlin, while the gates themselves were manufactured in Karl Bamberg's factory in Vienna, and the mosaics were shipped from Venice.

The name of the cathedral was briefly changed to the Sts. Cyril and Methodius Cathedral between 1916 and 1920 (since Bulgaria and Russia belonged to opposing alliances in World War I), but then the initial name was restored. The St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral was proclaimed a monument of culture on 12 September 1924.

To the left of the altar is a case displaying relics of Alexander Nevsky, given by the Russian Orthodox Church. Although the accompanying Bulgarian-language plaque refers simply to "relics", the item on display appears to be a piece of a rib.

There is a museum of Bulgarian icons inside the cathedral crypt, part of the National Art Gallery. The church claims that the museum contains the largest collection of Orthodox icons in Europe.

Church of St. Alexander Nevsky, Vilnius

Saint Alexander Nevsky Church  is an Eastern Orthodox church in the Naujininkai district of Vilnius dedicated to patron saint Alexander Nevsky. It was built in 1898 and closed by the Soviet government in 1959. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, it was given back to the Russian Orthodox Church, but due to the destruction of the interior of the building during the period of closure, it was not reopened as a church until 2012.

In 1895, the Orthodox Brotherhood of the Holy Spirit appealed to the local government to build a new Orthodox parish church in the southern districts of Vilnius. Next year, the architect M. Prozorov prepared its project, which included a Neo-Byzantine brick church and a parish school with separate classrooms for boys and girls. The building was ready in October 1898 and was consecrated in the same month by Orthodox Archbishop of Vilnius and all of Lithuania, Yuvenalis (Polovstsev).

The church remained active during the First World War, when most of the Orthodox churches in Vilnius were closed. The school, however, was closed in 1915. In 1937 its buildings were rebuilt in order to house an Orthodox female monastery of Saint Mary Magdalene. The nuns, supported by the local congregation, organised a general renovation of the church and also built a garden next to it. In 1944, during the bombing of Vilnius, the church was almost entirely destroyed. However, the nuns managed to rebuild the church once again and in 1951 it was reconsecrated.

In June 1959, the Soviet government announced that both the monastery and Saint Alexander Nevsky church were to be closed. The parishioners addressed a letter to Nikita Khrushchev, asking him not to liquidate the only Orthodox church in the southern part of the city but the request was rejected. The last nuns moved out of the monastery in August 1960 and the empty church was turned into a warehouse.

In 1990, Saint Alexander Nevsky church was given back to the Vilnius diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church and registered as a parish church. However, due to the lack of funds for renovation and the complete destruction of the interior of the church, no service has been held there.

Before 2012, the renovation works were finally achieved and the church was reopened on its patron day, in December 2012. Now, it is again a parish church.

Church of Pater Noster

The Church of the Pater Noster is a Roman Catholic church located on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. It is part of a Carmelite monastery', also known as the Sanctuary of the Eleona (French: Domaine de l'Eleona). The Church of the Pater Noster stands right next to the traditional site of Christ's teaching of the Lord's Prayer (Luke 11:2-4), a cave which formed the crypt and centrepiece of the 4th-century Byzantine Church of Eleona. The ruins of the Eleona were rediscovered in the 20th century and its walls were partially rebuilt. Today, the land on which both churches and the entire monastery are standing formally belongs to France.

At the Church of Pater Noster on the Mount of Olives, Christians recall Christ’s teaching of the Lord’s Prayer to his disciples.

On walls around the church and its vaulted cloister, translations of the Lord’s Prayer in 140 languages are inscribed on colourful ceramic plaques.

A giftshop sells postcards of each plaque and the associated Convent of Pater Noster website offers translations in more than 1440 languages and dialects.

A long tradition holds that Jesus taught the Lord’s Prayer or Our Father in the cave that forms the grotto under the church. When the Crusaders built a church here in the 12th century, they called it Pater Noster (Latin for Our Father).

Pilgrims of the time reported seeing the words of the prayer inscribed in Hebrew and Greek on marble plaques. Excavations have uncovered a Latin version.

Cave is associated with several teachings

The Gospels suggest that Jesus taught the Lord’s Prayer at least twice. Matthew 6:5-15 has this teaching as part of the Sermon on the Mount in Galilee; Luke 11:1-4 has it while Jesus is on his way from Galilee to Jerusalem.

The cave under the Pater Noster Church certainly existed in Jesus’ time. Near the summit of the mount, it would have been a secluded and sheltered place for a small group to gather.

The earliest reference to Jesus teaching in the cave is in the apocryphal Acts of John, dating from the 2nd century, but it does not specifically mention the Lord’s Prayer.

Later the Christian bishop and historian Eusebius (260-339) wrote that “in that cave the Saviour of the Universe initiated the members of his guild in ineffable mysteries”.

When the Emperor Constantine built a three-level church on the site in 330, it commemorated the Ascension of Christ. This historic church was known simply as the Eleona (from the Greek word meaning “of olives”).

The cave is also believed to be associated with Jesus’ teaching about the destruction of Jerusalem and his Second Coming (Matthew 24,25).

History of the Church of the Pater Noster

The Gospel account provides almost no information on the location of Jesus' teaching of the Lord's Prayer, also known as the "Our Father." The 3rd-century Acts of John (ch. 97) mentions the existence of a cave on the Mount of Olives associated with the teaching of Jesus, but not specifically the Lord's Prayer.

The church historian Eusebius (260-340) recorded that Constantine built a church over a cave on the Mount of Olives that had been linked with the Ascension. (Other Constantinian churches built over a cave are the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.) The church was built under the direction of Constantine's mother St. Helen in the early 4th century and was seen by the Bordeaux pilgrim in 333. The pilgrim Egeria (384) was the first to refer to this church as Eleona, meaning "of olives."

When the site for the veneration of Christ's ascension had been moved up the hill (see Chapel of the Ascension), this cave became exclusively associated with Jesus' teachings on the conflict between good and evil (Matt 24:1-26:2). Here Egeria heard this Gospel passage read on Tuesday of Holy Week.

Like many buildings in Jerusalem, the Constantinian church suffered destruction by the Persians in 614. The memory of Jesus' teaching remained associated with this site, but the content of that teaching shifted from good and evil to the Our Father prayer. This new identification was based on a clever harmonization of Luke 10:38-11:4 with Mark 11:12-25 (the withered fig tree).

When the Crusaders arrived, the site was associated specifically with the Lord's Prayer. They constructed a small oratory amidst the ruins in 1106, and a church was rebuilt in 1152 thanks to the funds of the Bishop of Denmark, who was buried in it with his butler. 12th-century pilgrims mention seeing marble plaques with the Lord's Prayer inscribed in Hebrew and Greek at the church. Excavations have uncovered an inscribed Latin version.

The Crusader-era church was damaged in 1187 and destroyed by 1345. In 1851 the remaining stones of the 4th-century church were being sold to Jews for tombstones in the Valley of Jehoshaphat.

The site was finally rescued by the Princesse de la Tour d'Auvergne, who bought the land and began a search for the cave. In 1868 she built a cloister modeled on the Campo Santo at Pisa and founded a Carmelite convent to the east in 1872.

In 1910, the Byzantine foundations over the cave were found partly beneath the cloister. The cloister was moved and the Byzantine church began to be reconstructed in 1915. The project is still unfinished.

New church was abandoned

Pater Noster Church is a part-reconstruction of Constantine’s Eleona church. Built to the same dimensions, it gives a good idea of what that original Byzantine basilica looked like. The garden outside the three doors outlines the atrium area.

In 1920 construction began on a new Church of the Sacred Heart over the grotto. Work was abandoned in 1927 when funds ran out, leaving the base and walls open to the sky.

Steps below the altar platform lead down to the crypt of the 4th-century basilica, partially built in the cave. But only a little of the stonework remains of that original church.

A 1st-century tomb, which Constantine’s engineers had blocked up with masonry, can now be seen.

What to See at the Church of the Pater Noster

The 4th-century Byzantine church has been partially reconstructed and provides a good sense of what the original was like. The half-restored church has the same dimensions as the original; the garden outside the three doors outlines the atrium area.

The unroofed church has steps leading down into the cave, which was partially collapsed when discovered in 1910. It is an interesting medley of ancient rock cuttings, concrete supports and marble furnishings. The cave cuts partly into a 1st-century tomb.

Left of the church's south door is an area paved with mosaics and identified as a baptistery. The 19th-century cloister is in a European style and upholds the tradition of multilingual plaques bearing the Lord's Prayer - 62 tiled panels display the prayer in 62 different languages, from Aramaic to Japanese to Scots Gaelic. The tomb of the Princesse de la Tour d'Auvergne is on the south side of the cloister.

The lane to the right of the convent's entrance leads to the Russian Church of the Ascension, established 1887. Its white tower can be seen from the Old City on a clear day. Byzantine tomb chapels with some lovely Armenian mosaics are preserved in the small museum.

The church is located in the At-Tur district of Jerusalem which has a population of about 18,000 mostly Muslim Arabs, with a small Christian minority.

Administered by: Carmelite Sisters
Tel.: 972-2-6264904
Open: 8am-noon, 2-5pm (Sunday closed).

Church of Dominus Flevit

Dominus Flevit is a Roman Catholic church on the Mount of Olives, opposite the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. The church was designed and constructed between 1953 and 1955 by the Italian architect Antonio Barluzzi and is held in trust by the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land. During construction of the sanctuary, archaeologists uncovered artifacts dating back to the Canaanite period, as well as tombs from the Second Temple and Byzantine eras.

The little teardrop Church of Dominus Flevit, halfway down the western slope of the Mount of Olives, recalls the Gospel incident in which Jesus wept over the future fate of Jerusalem.
This poignant incident occurred during Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem on the first Palm Sunday, when crowds threw their cloaks on the road in front of him and shouted, “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”

Looking down on the city, Jesus wept over it as he prophesied its future destruction. Enemies would “set up ramparts around you and surround you, and hem you in on every side . . . crush you to the ground . . . and they will not leave within you one stone upon another; because you did not recognise the time of your visitation from God.” (Luke 19:37-44)

Dominus Flevit, which translates from Latin as "The Lord Wept", was fashioned in the shape of a teardrop to symbolize the tears of Christ. Here, according to the 19th chapter of the Gospel of Luke, Jesus, while riding toward the city of Jerusalem, becomes overwhelmed by the beauty of the Second Temple and predicting its future destruction, and the diaspora of the Jewish people, weeps openly (an event known as Flevit super illam in Latin language).

Within 40 years, in AD 70, Jesus’ prophesy was fulfilled. Roman legions besieged Jerusalem and, after six months of fighting, burnt the Temple and levelled the city.

The site of Christ's weeping was unmarked until the Crusader era. It was during this time that people began commemorating the site. Eventually a small chapel was built there. After the fall of Jerusalem in 1187, the church fell into ruin. In the early sixteenth century a mosque or madrasah existed at the site, presumably built by the Turks, from the remains of the earlier church, although the exact use is disputed. This place was known as el Mansouriyeh (The Triumphant) and also el Khelweh (The Hermitage).

The Franciscans were unable to obtain the ruins, so, in 1891 they purchased a small plot of land nearby and built a small chapel there. In 1913 a small private home was built in front of the Franciscan chapel by one Miss Mellon. This home eventually passed to the Sisters of St. Joseph, who eventually sold it to a Portuguese woman.

Teardrop shape recalls Christ’s grief

The panoramic view from the Church of Dominus Flevit (Latin for “the Lord wept”) makes it easy to imagine the scene as Christ looked down on the city.

• Rising proud behind the city wall, in the place of today’s Dome of the Rock, stood the Temple — a gleaming vision of white marble and gold facings, huge bronze doors and colonnaded porticos.
• Beyond rose the grand Hasmonean palace, then serving as the Praetorium, and Herod’s Upper Palace with its three enormous towers.
• And in the houses and the streets were the men, women and children of Jerusalem, unaware of the fate that was to befall the Holy City.

Italian architect Antonio Barluzzi symbolised Christ’s grief over the city by designing the Dominus Flevit Church in the shape of a teardrop, with tear phials on the four corners of its dome.

At the foot of the altar, a mosaic of a hen gathering her chickens under her wings recalls Christ’s words “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often have I desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!” (Luke 13:34)

Behind the altar is a much-photographed picture window overlooking the city. The cross and chalice in its arch-shaped design focus not on the Dome of the Rock but on the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

Ancient mosaic floor is preserved

The Church of Dominus Flevit was built in 1955, but occupies an ancient site. It stands on the ruins of a Byzantine church from the 5th century, dedicated to the prophetess St Anna, and in an area of tombs dating back as far as 1600 BC.

Examples of the two types of tombs discovered by excavators have been left visible.
Also unearthed were the remains of an elaborate mosaic floor from the Byzantine church. It has been preserved, to the left of the entrance.

The mosaic is richly decorated with intersecting circles and pictures of fruit, leaves and flowers.
An inscription in Greek refers to Simon, a “friend of Christ”, who “decorated this place of prayer and offered it to Christ our Lord for the forgiveness of his sins and for the repose of his brother . . . .”

History of the place:

Bronze age

   During the construction of the church, a late bronze tomb was found and excavated, with  many findings.

Old Testament

   Mount of Olives played an important part during the Biblical times. For more information - see the Mt Olives page.

Second temple period

  There are several second temple period findings in the burial caves near the church (dated to 2nd C BC - 1st C AD). Near the entrance are two large caves with dozens of ossuaries (stone coffins) that are on display. The excavations resulted in other rich findings, such as  a hoard of silver Jewish shekels minted during the Great revolt against the Romans (AD 66-70). On the coffins, mostly Jewish, are dozens of inscriptions in Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic.

New Testament

  According to tradition, this is the site where Jesus was looking at the city, visualizing its destruction, and weeping over its fate. The location of the church fits the description in Luke 19 - on a descent from Mount of Olives and facing the temple mount.

Byzantine through Crusaders period
 
   In the 5th a Byzantine Monastery and chapel was built at this site. The present church is built over its ruins, and a mosaic floor can be seen to the left of the entrance. After its destruction in the Persian or early Arab period, the site was forgotten, and in the Crusaders period a small chapel was built here.

Mamlukes and Ottoman period

    The Arabs converted the structure to a small mosque or school - named El-Mansuria (The Victory). After some time it was deserted until the 19th C. In 1913 a private house was built on the site.
    A lot nearby was purchased by the Franciscans in 1891 and a small chapel was built. Later, they finally purchased the private house and the area where the church stands today. A new church was designed and constructed in 1953-1954.  It was built over the ruins of the Byzantine monastery, but left traces of the ruins inside the church. During the construction, an Italian archaeologist - B. Bagatti - conducted the excavations. A small collection of the artifacts from these excavations are housed at the site.

 
Modern times

The church is open to the public, and many groups and tourists come to visit the church and pray. There is a great panorama from the balcony towards the old city and the foothills of Mt Olives, and although the access to the church is difficult - the view and the visit here is worth the efforts.

Administered by: Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land
Tel.: 972-2-6266450
Open: 8-11.45am; 2.30-5pm

St Catherine’s Monastery, Sinai (Egypt)

Saint Catherine's Monastery lies on the Sinai Peninsula, at the mouth of a gorge at the foot of Mount Sinai, in the city of Saint Catherine, Egypt in the South Sinai Governorate. The monastery is controlled by the autonomous Church of Sinai, part of the wider Eastern Orthodox Church, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Built between 548 and 565, the monastery is one of the oldest working Christian monasteries in the world. The site contains the world's oldest continually operating library, possessing many unique books including the Syriac Sinaiticus and, until 1859, the Codex Sinaiticus.

According to tradition, Catherine of Alexandria was a Christian martyr sentenced to death on the breaking wheel. When this failed to kill her, she was beheaded. According to tradition, angels took her remains to Mount Sinai. Around the year 800, monks from the Sinai Monastery found her remains.

Although it is commonly known as Saint Catherine's, the monastery's full official name is the Sacred Monastery of the God-Trodden Mount Sinai. The patronal feast of the monastery is the Feast of the Transfiguration. The monastery has become a favorite site of pilgrimage.

The oldest record of monastic life at Sinai comes from the travel journal written in Latin by a woman named Egeria about 381–384. She visited many places around the Holy Land and Mount Sinai, where, according to the Old Testament, Moses received the Ten Commandments from God.

The monastery was built by order of Emperor Justinian I (reigned 527–565), enclosing the Chapel of the Burning Bush (also known as "Saint Helen's Chapel") ordered to be built by Empress Consort Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, at the site where Moses is supposed to have seen the burning bush. The living bush on the grounds is purportedly the one seen by Moses. Structurally the monastery's king post truss is the oldest known surviving roof truss in the world. The site is sacred to Christianity, Islam and Judaism.

A mosque was created by converting an existing chapel during the Fatimid Caliphate (909–1171), which was in regular use until the era of the Mamluk Sultanate in the 13th century and is still in use today on special occasions. During the Ottoman Empire, the mosque was in desolate condition; it was restored in the early 20th century.

During the seventh century, the isolated Christian anchorites of the Sinai were eliminated: only the fortified monastery remained. The monastery is still surrounded by the massive fortifications that have preserved it. Until the twentieth century, access was through a door high in the outer walls. From the time of the First Crusade, the presence of Crusaders in the Sinai until 1270 spurred the interest of European Christians and increased the number of intrepid pilgrims who visited the monastery. The monastery was supported by its dependencies in Egypt, Palestine, Syria, Crete, Cyprus and Constantinople.

The monastery, along with several dependencies in the area, constitute the entire Church of Sinai, which is headed by an archbishop, who is also the abbot of the monastery. The exact administrative status of the church within the Eastern Orthodox Church is ambiguous: by some, including the church itself, it is considered autocephalous, by others an autonomous church under the jurisdiction of the Greek Orthodox Church of Jerusalem. The archbishop is traditionally consecrated by the Greek Orthodox Patriarch of Jerusalem; in recent centuries he has usually resided in Cairo. During the period of the Crusades which was marked by bitterness between the Orthodox and Catholic churches, the monastery was patronized by both the Byzantine emperors and the rulers of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, and their respective courts.

The monastery library preserves the second largest collection of early codices and manuscripts in the world, outnumbered only by the Vatican Library. It contains Greek, Arabic, Armenian, Coptic, Hebrew, Georgian, and Aramaic texts.

The Monastery also has a copy of the Ashtiname of Muhammad, in which the Islamic prophet Muhammad is claimed to have bestowed his protection upon the monastery.

St Catherine’s Monastery in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula is believed to enshrine the burning bush from which God first revealed himself to Moses. It also contains a treasure trove of icons and ancient manuscripts.

St Catherine’s, an Orthodox establishment, is one of the oldest Christian monasteries in the world and has been the centre of monastic life in the southern Sinai.

Monks have lived here, in the shadow of Mount Sinai, almost without interruption since the Byzantine emperor Justinian built the monastery in the 6th century. An earlier chapel on the site is said to have been erected on St Helena’s orders in 337.

Since the location was difficult to protect from marauders, Justinian surrounded the monastery with a high wall of close-fitting granite stones, about 2 metres thick. Most of what can be seen on the site today dates back to the 6th century.

The bush still lives

The holiest part of St Catherine’s Monastery is the Chapel of the Burning Bush, a small chamber behind the altar of the basilica. It is often closed to the public and those who enter must remove their shoes, just as Moses did when he approached the burning bush (Exodus 3:2-5).

Under the chapel’s altar is a silver star which is believed to mark the site of the bush from which God called Moses to lead his people out of Egypt.

The reputed bush was transplanted several metres away. The pilgrim Egeria, who visited between 381 and 384, described it as “still alive and sprouting”, and situated within a pretty garden.

The bush or its successor, now sprawling over a protective stone wall, still lives and is carefully tended by the monks. Since the Bible narrative says the bush was not consumed by the flames, the Orthodox name for it is the Un burnt Bush.

The bush is a bramble of the rose family called Rubus sanctus, which includes the raspberry and blackberry. A native of the Holy Land, it is extremely long-lived. The monastery’s bush neither blooms nor gives any fruit.

Moses’ well still gives water

St Catherine’s Monastery also encompasses the Well of Moses, also known as the Well of Jethro, where Moses is said to have met his future wife, Zipporah.

As recounted in Exodus (2:15-21), Moses was resting by the well when the seven daughters of Jethro (also called Reuel) came to draw water. Some shepherds drove them away and Moses came to their defence.

In gratitude, Jethro invited Moses to his home and gave him his daughter Zipporah in marriage.
The well is still one of the monastery’s main sources of water.

Icons escaped destruction

St Catherine’s Monastery is renowned for its art treasures. Its collection of more than 2000 icons is probably the largest in the world. Its library of 4500 ancient Christian manuscripts is second only to that of the Vatican Library in Rome.

The monastery’s isolation saved its oldest icons during the 8th century when the Byzantine emperor Leo III ordered the destruction of any imagery depicting Jesus or one of the saints. These early icons are naturalistic and free from stylisation and the rules that later icons followed.

A selection from the icon collection is always on display in the basilica.

The ancient manuscripts are mainly in Greek, but also in Arabic, Armenian, Coptic, Georgian, Slavonic and Syriac. Only one is in Latin. Some are exquisitely illuminated.

The monastery no longer contains its most precious manuscript. This was the Codex Sinaiticus, a 4th-century copy of most of the Bible in Greek. It was discovered in 1844 by a German biblical scholar, Friedrich Constantin von Tischendorf, who obtained it for Tsar Alexander I of Russia.

Whether the codex was to be returned is disputed. Most of it is now in the British Museum, to which it was sold by the Soviet Russian government in 1933 for $100,000. In 2009 an international project placed the full text online.

Basilica has unusual mosaic

The most outstanding art treasure in the monastery is an unusual mosaic of the Transfiguration of Jesus, above the altar in the apse of the basilica.

This well-preserved mosaic from the 6th century can be glimpsed behind the gilded iconostasis that dates from the 17th century.

Christ is shown in glory in an almond-shaped panel of greys and blues, wearing a white mantle edged with gold. His halo has a gold cross on a white and gold backing.

Around him are the prophets of the Sinai, Moses and Elijah, and the disciples John, Peter and James.
The inside rim of the arch is decorated with medallions of the 12 apostles, with Paul, Thaddaeus and Matthias replacing those in the Transfiguration composition.

The monastery is actually dedicated to the Transfiguration, but it was renamed for St Catherine of Alexandria, a 3rd-century martyr. According to tradition, this happened after monks found her incorrupt body, which had been transported by angels to the top of Mount Catherine (Jebel Katharina), the highest mountain in the Sinai.

To the right of the altar in the basilica is a marble sarcophagus with two silver caskets containing the saint’s skull and left hand.

Monks’ bones are collected

Because the ground is rocky, the monks created the monastery garden by bringing soil from elsewhere. It contains fruit trees including olives, apricots and plums, and produces a variety of vegetables.

Nearby are the cemetery and charnel house. When monks die they are first buried in the cemetery. After their bodies decay, their bones are exhumed and transferred to the charnel house.
In the charnel house can be seen the bones of thousands of deceased monks, with separate piles for legs, hands, feet, ribs and skulls. Martyrs and archbishops are in open coffins. Inside the door, dressed in purple robes, sits the skeleton of Stephanos, a 6th-century guardian of the path to Mount Sinai.
An unusual feature of the monastery compound is a mosque. Originally built in the 6th century as a hospice for pilgrims, it was converted to a mosque in 1106 for the use of local Bedouin, some of whom work at the monastery.

Of the monastery’s four original gates, three in the northwestern wall have been blocked for hundreds of years. Until the middle of the 19th century, access was by basket and pulley to a gate about 9 metres above ground level in the northeastern wall. Then a new gate was opened in the northwestern wall.

Church of St Catherine of Alexandria

This 19th-century church adjoins the 6th-century Church of the Nativity, built over the cave where Jesus was born. It even shares a wall with the Nativity church. The Church of St Catherine is the parish church for Bethlehem’s Catholics. It is also often used by groups of pilgrims.

The midnight Mass beamed from Bethlehem to television viewers worldwide on Christmas Eve is celebrated in the Church of St Catherine of Alexandria.

St Catherine was an early 4th-century martyr from Egypt was of noble birth and well educated. At the age of 18, she challenged the emperor Maxentius (or his father, the emperor Maximian) for persecuting Christians and worshipping false gods.
The enraged emperor ordered her to be tortured on a wheel — hence the term “Catherine wheel”. But when Catherine touched the wheel, it broke. She was then beheaded and tradition says angels carried her body to Mount Sinai, where in the 6th century a church and monastery were built in her honour.
This latter part of the story was, however, unknown to the earliest pilgrims to the mountain. It was two or three centuries later that the story of St Catherine and the angels began to circulate.
St Catherine of Alexandria has been ranked with St Margaret and St Barbara as one of the 14 “most helpful” saints in heaven. She is also one of the saints reputed to have spoken to St Joan of Arc.

The church was built between 1725 and 1730 in order to replace a more ancient building, which dated back to the middle of 16th century which was damaged by the earthquake of 1693; it had been the seat of the brotherhood since its birth in 1574. The new building was realised thanks to an amount of money given away by a priest, Giacinto Giglio, governor pro tempore of the brotherhood. The new seat was consecrated on 6 October 1730. Around the middle of the eighteenth century the facade and the bell tower were built. Between 1774 and 1792 the marble altars were constructed, while the marble inlaid floor was constructed about 1803−04. The building was damaged by English air raids during the summer of 1943. Repairs were made in the years after the war. The church was damaged again by the earthquakes of 1990 and 2002.

The building is of an octagonal structure, however the different length of the final parts of the passage which link the vestibule and the presbytery gives a pronounced longitudinal course. The hall is covered by a lunette cloister vault, which extends upwards. The church features a marble inlaid floor. The interior decoration consists of Tuscan pilasters that support the trabeation, on which stands the tambour. The pilasters turn into the ribs of the vault. This one is divided into eight slices whose center represents the Agnus Dei. On one side of the octagon there are a wooden confessional and a side exit. The four sides of the octagon receive altars. The main one was built with precious stone materials and stands over a raised platform. In the centre of the vestibule there is a double stone which allows people to enter inside the crypt, where centuries ago, the brothers were buried. The facade is set on a basalt base which is divided into three parts by four Tuscan pilaters. These support remarkable eves. In the central part of the facade there is a simple entry portal; above it you can see a window crowned by a triangulate tympanum. In the left part there are narrow loopholes and a circular window which illuminates the bell tower stairway. On the top of the tower is a small temple decorated by four one-light windows, one on each side. It is covered by a small dome equipped with pinnacles and it shows an octagonal plant, similar to the church.

The Church of Saint Catherine is affiliated with the Catholic Church and is located in the northern part adjacent to the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem in the West Bank in the Palestinian territories. It works as a parish church in Bethlehem and Franciscan monastery. There is a complex of caves underneath the temple.

Is included in the Patriarchal See of Jerusalem, follows the Roman or Latin rite and is included in the World Heritage List of UNESCO since 2012 as the birthplace of Jesus: Church of the Nativity and the Pilgrimage Route in Bethlehem.

It was dedicated in 1347 to St. Catherine of Alexandria.