St. Peter and St. Paul's Church, Cairo

St. Peter and St. Paul's Church, commonly known as El-Botroseya and also known as the Petrine Church,[1] is a small Coptic church located in the vicinity of Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral, the seat of the Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, in Cairo's Abbassia district. It was built in 1911 over Egyptian prime minister Boutros Ghali's tomb.[2]

St. Peter and St. Paul's Church
30.0722°N 31.2756°E / 30.0722; 31.2756
LocationCairo
CountryEgypt
DenominationCoptic Orthodox
TraditionAlexandrian Rite
History
DedicationSaint Peter and Saint Paul
Consecrated1911
Architecture
StyleBasilica
Completed1911 (1911)

History

The church was built in 1911 over the tomb of Boutros Ghali, Egypt's prime minister from 1908 until his assassination in 1910. Its building process was supervised by Ghali's family.[3][4] His grandson, Boutros Boutros Ghali, sixth Secretary-General of the United Nations and former Egyptian minister of foreign affairs, was also buried in the crypt beneath the altar in February 2016.[1][4][5] Originally named Saint Peter and Saint Paul's Church, it became known over the years as the Botroseya Church, the first church to be named after a political family.[3]

On 11 December 2016, a suicide bomber blew himself up at the church, killing up to 25 people, mostly women and children, and injuring many others.[6]

Design

The church is considered by local historians to be of high religious and artistic value.[3][4] It was designed in the basilica style by Italo-Slovene architect Antonio Lasciac, Khedive Isma'il Pasha's designated chief architect, with 28 meters in length and 17 meters in width. The central nave is separated from the aisles by a row of marbled columns on each side, above which are a series of Italian paintings depicting the life of Jesus, his apostles and a number of saints. At the end of the central aisle is a two-step plate of black marble containing Boutros Ghali's supposed final words. Venetian mosaics can be found on the walls, including one depicting the baptism of Jesus on the Jordan River, and another one behind the sanctuary showing Jesus above a dome, with the Virgin Mary to his right and Mark the Evangelist to his left.[3][7][8]

  • Nave of the church
  • entrance to the crypt where Boutros Ghali's tomb is located

References
  1. "Boutros-Ghali to be buried at family's Italian-style church". Egypt Independent. 17 February 2016. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  2. El-Mahdawy, Hadeer (11 December 2016). "23 killed in explosion inside church attached to Cairo's Coptic cathedral". Ahram Online. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  3. "Botroseya Church, first church named after political family". Egypt Independent. 12 December 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  4. "حقائق عن الكنيسة البطرسية والكاتدرائية المرقسية في القاهرة". BBC Arabic. 11 December 2016. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  5. "Egypt holds massive military funeral for former UN chief Boutros-Ghali". Xinhua. 19 February 2016. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  6. Chappell, BIll (11 December 2016). "Bomb Hits Coptic Christian Church In Cairo, Killing At Least 25". NPR. NPR. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  7. Boutros-Ghali, Youssef (2015). A Coptic Narrative in Egypt: A Biography of the Boutros-Ghali Family (book description). I.B. Tauris. ISBN 9781780769394.
  8. El-Zoghby, Salwa (11 December 2016). "الكنيسة البطرسية.. تاريخ 105 أعوام يناله "غدر الإرهاب"". El Watan. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
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