St Mary and St Athanasius Coptic Orthodox Church, Nasr City
Virgin Mary and Saint Athanasius the Apostolic Coptic Orthodox Church in Nasr City (Arabic: كنيسة السيدة العذراء والقديس اثناسيوس الرسولي بمدينة نصر Kanisat Al-Sayeda Al-'azraa wa Al-qdees Athanasius Al-Rasouly bi Madinet Nasr; Coptic: Ϯⲉⲕⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛⲧⲉ ϯⲁⲅⲓⲁ Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ ⲛⲉⲙ ⲡⲓⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ Ⲁⲑⲁⲛⲁⲥⲓⲟⲥ ⲡⲓⲁⲡⲟⲥⲧⲟⲗⲓⲕⲟⲥ ϧⲉⲛ Ⲙⲁⲇⲓⲛⲁⲧ Ⲛⲁⲥⲣ), also unofficially known as Nasr City Cathedral is a Coptic Orthodox Church in Nasr City, Cairo, Egypt.
History[edit]
Early Founding[edit]
Work started to build a church in Nasr City at the end of 1967 when some Copts in the city met to discuss the idea, then they organized a larger public meeting for all the Copts in Nasr City to attend in the hall of St Mark Coptic Orthodox Church in Heliopolis in the Spring of 1968. In this meeting, a committee was formed from the attendees to contact Madinet Nasr for Housing and Development and all other stakeholders to obtain a piece of land where they could build a church on.[1]
On the 27th of July 1972, Pope Shenouda III laid down the foundation stone of the church in a huge festival with many political attendees including a number of House of Representatives members. This church is the first church that Pope Shenouda III lays the foundation stone for after becoming the 117th Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church.[1]
Naming[edit]
On the 6th of October 1973, which happens to be the day Yom Kippur War started, Pope Shenouda III decided to name the church with its current name, Virgin Mary and Saint Athanasius the Apostolic Coptic Orthodox Church, making it the 1st church to be named after St Athanasius the Apostolic.[1]
Construction Work[edit]
The Church was built through six phases, each phase marking a huge step towards the completion of the project. These phases are listed below:[1]
Phase 1[edit]
This phase included the foundations concrete works, and was completed in 1978
Phase 2[edit]
This was the main phase where the ground floor was constructed. The ground floor includes a church which was inaugurated by Pope Shenouda III at Saturday evening, the eve of Palm Sunday 18 April 1981. The ground floor also provided a temporary activities and services area.
Phase 3[edit]
This phase included the concrete works for the main upper church (see photo) which occupies the whole upper floor. These works were completed by the end of 1986.
Phase 4[edit]
This phase included the finishing which included the interior and exterior whitening, tiles, carpentry of doors and windows, veils, decks, electricity, iron work, interior and exterior marble, acoustics and icons and lasted from 1987 to 1991.
In addition, the phase incorporated the construction of the church's bell tower in 1990 and a contract to construct the main staircase that would lead to the upper floor and a gate that would be of a compatible size to the main church in the upper floor on the 16th of October 1990
Phase 5[edit]
The completion of the new baptistry and the finishing of St Anthony the Great Coptic Orthodox Church in the ground floor, along with classrooms and halls for church services, a new nursery, an events hall, and a theater named after Pope Shenouda III took place from 1997 to 2000.
Phase 6[edit]
This is the current phase where the church is expanding by constructing a new church services building and a church conferences/seminars building.
Important Dates[edit]
- End of 1967: The people started to think about building a church in Nasr City
- 1971: The year in which the presidential decree to build the church was announced. (decree #3052 for year 1971)
- 27/7/1972: The foundation stone was laid by Pope Shenouda III
- 1/8/1972: Construction work began
- 22/8/1972: First divine liturgy to be prayed in the church, led by Father Misaeel Al-Soryany (Now Bishop Misaeel of Birmingham)
- 24/11/1991: The consecration of the altars of the main church
- 8/3/2001: The consecration of the baptistry
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "The History of the Church". Athanasius Deacons School Official Website (in العربية). Retrieved 2021-04-06.
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