Hanging Church

The name Hanging is connected with how this church is built. The church rooms rest on the two towers of the southern entrance to Babylon Fortress, and the middle of the building spans the old passage between them. The white facade and staircase lead to the courtyard; inside stand thirteen columns, and an opening in the baptistery's floor reveals the stone masonry of the gate, now far below the present street level. The church is still active today, although the patriarchal residence has long been in another district of Cairo.

In one thousand forty-seven, messengers from the Alexandrian clergy came to a cell on the shore of Lake Burullus. Christodoulos lived there—a former priest of al-Baramus Monastery who had shut himself away to pray. Now they wanted to place him at the head of the Coptic Orthodox Church. Christodoulos refused to leave his cell, and, according to his biographer, the messengers had to take him away by force. At that time, all his possessions amounted to two dirhams and another three-quarters of a dirham.

After becoming patriarch, Christodoulos chose the place from which he would govern the church himself. The patriarchs of Alexandria still bore the name of the city where their see had arisen, but Egypt's capital, trade, and the court of the Fatimid caliph were already in Cairo. The head of the Copts needed to be there when the community faced new restrictions or churches needed permission for repairs. Christodoulos moved the residence from Alexandria to Old Cairo and settled at the Hanging Church—the one that stands here.

His choice immediately affected the neighboring Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus. By established custom, new patriarchs were consecrated there. Christodoulos sought to have the ceremony held at the Hanging Church. A dispute began between the two congregations, but Christodoulos prevailed. After him, subsequent patriarchs were elected, consecrated, and enthroned here; councils gathered here, clergy were ordained, and chrism was consecrated. This continued for more than two and a half centuries. Christodoulos remained patriarch for thirty-one years, died at this church, and was buried in it.

The word “Hanging” describes the building's construction. The church was built above the southern gate of Babylon Fortress: its rooms rest on two towers, and the central part spans the former passage between them. Over the centuries, the ground level rose, so the former height is scarcely felt from outside. In the baptistery, an opening was left in the floor, through which the masonry of the gate can be seen below. The rooms of the patriarchal residence stood above that very passage.

Today, a Coptic church dedicated to Mary is active here, while the residence of the head of the church was long ago moved to another part of Cairo. Christodoulos's tomb is gone as well: his remains were later taken to the Monastery of Saint Macarius in Wadi El Natrun. Alexandria still remains in the title of the Coptic patriarch, although Cairo became his permanent place of residence after Christodoulos's decision.