| Coptic Churches in Old Cairo |
Coptic churches were rebuilt and restored time and again over the centuries, often re-using wood and stone-work. For this reason some parts of a church may be of earlier date than the structure itself. Although they differ in size and architecture features they bear the unmistakable stamp of a Coptic church. The exteriors are characterized by great simplicity and are often indistinguishable from neighboring, unadorned, brick dwellings flanking a cobbled street. The axis of the building runs east to west with the entrance to the west and the high altar placed in the east nearest the rising run. The interior of the early churches has a simple ground plan in four main divisions: the forecourt or narthex, the main body of the church with the nave higher than the side aisles, a porch or transept, and the inner chambers. The nave, which has an arched timber roof, is separated from the side aisles by columns with supporting arches, enabling a second row of columns to be superimposed on them and providing light from the clerestory. The columns had their shafts painted with figures of saints. The side aisles are also arched with timber but are at a lower level. There was originally a low parapet with curtains separating the main body of the church from the sanctuary, which is usually erected on rising ground and ascended by a few steps. Later the parapet became a rail or screen beyond which only those in holy orders may pass. The sanctuary screen is made of wood, often decorated with geometrical segments of ebony and ivory of intricate workmanship. Facing the congregation (west), icons of Christ the King and the ever Virgin Mary are hung on the northern and southern sides of the screen, which was later called the "icon carrier". It is customary to find icons for Archangel Michael, Saint John the Baptist, and the church's patron saint on the icon carrier. It is common to find ostrich eggs hanging next to the icon carrier, in front of the sanctuary. These eggs are ornaments that symbolize the vigilance with which an ostrich ceaselessly protects its egg, and is consequently meant to remind the congregation that their thoughts should be similarly focusing on spiritual matters. Generally speaking, the Coptic tradition regards the egg as an emblem of the resurrection (the life coming out of the seemingly lifeless egg). The use of eggs as ornaments is undoubtedly adopted from ancient Egyptian customs. Ostrich eggs and pottery eggs have been used as decorative elements in churches and later in mosques that were erected by Copts after the Arabs' conquest of Egypt. Behind the icon carrier are three domed apses (hayakel). The central apse holds the altar of the saint to whom the church is dedicated (the patron of the church). The side apses are used when there is more than one service of the divine liturgy per day. Coptic altars are free-standing and in the middle of the chapel. Behind the central altar there is a tribunal with a throne for a bishop and seats for the officiating clergy. A niche in the wall usually holds a sanctuary lamp, known as the perpetual lamp (kandil). In the early years of Christianity, it was customary to bury the bodies of saints or martyrs beneath the altar, either in a vault or in a crypt beneath the floor of the sanctuary. Most of the old Coptic churches (in particular the desert churches of the monasteries) still possess relics, which are enclosed in a casket beneath a silk brocade or kept beneath glass beside a picture of the patron saint. In the narthex of some of the old churches there is an oblong tank sunk in the floor. This was originally used for libation or blessing of water, for which also sunk in the floor, was used for the foot-washing service commemorating the washing of the disciples' feet by the Lord on Maundy Thursday. Another important feature of old Coptic churches is the location of the baptistry. In the earliest surviving churches (for example the church of Abu Sarga), a candidate for baptism was first received in a small ante chamber and then descended three steps into the baptistry, where he/she was immersed in the consecrated water. When the sacrament was completed he/she received the Eucharist and only then was allowed to enter the church. Only later was the baptistry moved to the side of the narthex of a church (but still before the nave and aisles). This change was in line with the custom of seating the church congregation in the three main parts of the church: the priest and serving deacons around the altar (behind the icon carrier), the believers in the nave, and the believers-to-be in the narthex. And later still, the baptistry was constructed at the end of the northern aisle near the altar. Today, scarcely a church in Egypt has its baptistry outside the main part of the church. Instead, the baptistry is now generally situated at the upper end of the northern aisle of the church. The front is a basin deep enough to allow the priest to fully immerse the child in the consecrated water thrice while pronouncing the baptismal formulary: "I baptize you |
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