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.
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.
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