PGS Final Magazine

THE MAGAZINE OF CHRISTIAN ART AND ARCHITECTURE

ISSUE 13 / December 2017

Water
Wonders

The Facial
Expressions Of Coptic
Icons Explained

CASE STUDY:

The Church Of The Virgin
Mary - Haret Zuweila



This Month In
CA EXPLORE

CASE STUDY: The Church Of The
Virgin Mary - Haret Zuweila

Located at the heart of Fatimid Cairo, Egypt; This church is considered the
most significant and the oldest in its district. Its iconic paintings and unique
elements make it one of the most important churches in egypt that give a

strong image of the coptic period.

The Church Of The Virgin Mary, Haret 5
Zuweila: An Overview
8
Water Wonders 12
Symbolic Messages In The Facial
Expressions of Important Icons 18
Art In The Church 20
Common Thoughts From The
Local Community 22
The Unfolding Of Historic
Periods Through Columns



The Church Of The Virgin Mary, Haret
Zuweila: An Overview

A masterpiece that originates from the family passed by during their visit to Egypt.
start of the christian history and holds The Holy family came from El-Mattariyah
together the historic timeline of the and rested in the church and continued to rest
upcoming periods. in the Napilion area. They came through the
Egyptian Gulf which is nowadays known
The expression “Three in one” is usually as Port Said street. The oldest part in the
used for promotional purposes nowadays, church - the part known as the cave where
but did you know it has been actually used the Holy family rested - is located in the
anciently for religious purposes ? Here, we’re eastern direction of the church, now called the
talking about The Church Of The Holy Virgin compartment of the Holy Virgin Mary. Beside
in Harat Zuwayla, known as the church that the compartment, an ancient well has been
consisted of three other churches which was found which The Holy family drank from,
magnificent at the time of construction. The and was the reason behind the establishment
church was built in the 4th century (352 AD) of the whole church in the future.
by El Hakeem Zaylol and its location was
chosen for it was the place where the Holy The area is named as Harat Zuwayla.
Zuwayla was a Moroccan tribe which was

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brought by Jawhar The Sicilian, the founder directed from east to west and the shortest rib
of Cairo, to help him in establishing the city was directed from south to north. The whole
of Cairo. After the decline of the Fatimid church is directed towards East as the prayers
Empire, Ayyubid Dynasty came after, and the of the christians are directed towards the
tribe of Zuwayla went back to Morocco. The sunrise i.e: East. The Bema is also directed
area remained to be called after their name towards east.
“Harat Zuwayla”.
The architectural style of the church was
The churches are usually constructed either taken from the Basilican heritage that
based on a circular/elliptical plan, a ship- separates the church into three parts. The
shaped plan or a cross plan. The unusual front part which is directed towards east. The
thing about the plan of the church is that middle part features twelve columns. The
it combined 2 plans. It was constructed to number twelve might leave you wondering
meet the shape of a ship; the roof was a why twelve specifically. Well, it is a symbol
truss-shaped wood and the two sides were to represent the twelve students of jesus
the lowest to represent the shape of a sailing christ. Finally, the back part is directed
boat/ship. Moreover, its layout was in the towards west and features one different
shape of a latin cross too; its longest rib was column known as the column of Judas.

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Water Wonders It has been said that the water flow is a
miracle but actually it has proven scientific
The water flowing below the church reasons in engineering. The church is lower
has remained mysterious for ages and than the street level by 4 meters so it is
has been a subject interesting enough normal for the groundwater to flow towards
for local mythology. the church. The street of Port Said was
restored but still, its lower soil particles were
It is hard to neglect or oversee water saturated with water. The pressure always
coming from the borders of the church. concentrates on the lowest and weakest
The truth behind this mystery is the fact areas, which is the church in this case. This
that the walls are more likely to have the pressure causes water to flow through the
characteristics of a sponge which allows walls of the church. In addition, the church
water to go through. After that, the water is ancient and lasted for 1600 years and is
flows through a channel around the borders surrounded by crypts and tunnels which
of the church which was digged by people were used in the old times. This explains
to pour the water into the ancient well but the saturation of the lower soil particles.
since it cannot hold this much water, another Controlling the water to prevent the
stream was digged to lead the water into a drowning of the church was not easy but the
plantation area located in the courtyard of the problem was solved due to a theory executed
church. The water container is made up of by professional engineers. Today, a lot of
concrete and is on a lower level, so the water people from around the globe visit this place
is sucked and thrown again into the stream. If to study the theory behind this solution. The
the water was to be left without this system, theory suggests placing filters during the
it would come up higher than sea level by 1 restoration. The filter is a pipe which has
meter which can cause the whole church to holes distributed along its length placed into
drown. the wall to force the water to flow through it.

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Symbolic Messages In The Facial
Expressions of Important Icons

Despite the highly skilled artists at shocking number always leaves people in
the time; art created to serve christian wonder, why does a single church hold this
beliefs focused on symbolism rather many icons ?
than aesthetics.
Well, here’s the answer to your question:
From an archaeological point of view, some during the very early period of Christianity,
small details can have significant meanings. the Bible was hard to be understood as it was
That’s the case when talking about our church. a new religion at the time. Also the spiritual
The very precious “Icon Of Annunciation” theme of its messages was almost impossible
which depicts the icon of Virgin Mary goes to deliver to the public with full experience
back to the 14th century proving how ancient using only words.
the church is and how it stood throughout
the centuries. More icons were added to the The majority of the Coptic paintings included
church over time, most of them belonged to main elements such as animals, plant
the 18th and 19th century. One of the most ornamentation and human forms that lacked
crucial icons in the church is the icon of the realism. Each one of those elements held a
virgin Mary of the tree of Jesse. specific meaning and symbol.
If you take second and dig deeper into
Much to your surprise, the church held up to observing the painted icons in the church, you
a hundred and fifty extraordinary icons. The might notice the odd positions and forms of
people. Furthermore, their face expressions

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play a tremendous role in representing several not least, the large head implies the devotion
symbols such as the wide eyes, small noses of the figure to prayer and contemplation.
and large heads compared to natural features
of the majority of human beings. These The Most important icons found in the church:
represent the main characteristics of Coptic Icon of Archangel Galil Michael
iconization. Icon of Holy Virgin Mary
Icon of Annunciation of the Angel of the
Some of the facial expressions are interpreted Virgin Mary
as follows: The large ears shows a person Icon of Nativity
listening to the words of god. The candle lips Icon of Baptism
show glorification and praising of the lord, Icon of Resurrection
while a small mouth means that the mouth will Icon of Ascension
never be the source of saying hurtful words. Icon of Entry into Jerusalem
The small noses are seen as sensual. Last but Icon of Descent of the Holy Spirit

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A Journey to

Haret Zuweila

Ask the District’s local giftshop
for the new puzzle featuring a
journey from the nearest metro
station to the Apse of the Iconic

Holy Virgin’s Church.

Find The
Differences

Below are two of the modern
icons placed at the church of the
vurgin Mary. Take time to observe
the icons, the symbols they hold,
their colors and their meaninings
according to the previous article.
Then, find the difference between
the icon and it’s defected copy. Each
pair contains 4 differences.



Art In The Church

In addition to it’s aesthetic value, the
art pieces found at the church also
have historic significance.

Ancient, artistic, appealing and
astonishing, these keywords are not
enough to describe the art pieces
found at the church. Art in this church is
more like a Japanese egg; as you go deeper
other mysteries are revealed. It is notable that
some artistic pieces not only hold aesthetic
or religious meanings, they also have strong
bounds to the history of the church and how it
is interpreted

For instance, An artistic piece found at the
northern wall was key to proving that the
church belonged to the Byzantine period. By
identifying the age of the piece, it gave a proof
of the history of the church’s construction.
As the uniqueness of the church continues to
surprise us, we found that the cross was placed
above the edge of the middle separator, unlike
the other Coptic churches that was used to
hang the cross from above the skeleton of the

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Common Thoughts From The Local
Community

Located at the heart of Cairo, The Herod. We don’t know the truth and we can’t
church was subject to many local assure that it is true. However, the priests of
thoughts and unrealistic beliefs Ethiopia visit the church just to take some of
this Holy water with them to earn its blessing.
As the saying goes regarding ancient
buildings by people expressing their In addition to that, the locals also believe
beliefs, the Holy Virgin of Mary that whenever Patriarch Matthew falls into
church had some common thoughts and temptation, he would stand in front the icon
theories made up by the public to draw more of the Holy Virgin Mary and talk to her as if
attention to the church. These stories aren’t she’s alive! The miracle part is that the Holy
considered historically true; only a minor Virgin Mary revealed herself to him to release
number of them has anything to do with the his suffer and sorrows and give him comfort.
recorded history.

It is believed that the well located in the
sanctuary contained Holy water which cured
the sick. Their theory states that it was blessed
by the young Jesus on the Holy family’s travel
through to Egypt during the rage of the king

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The Unfolding Of Pharaonic Period
Historic Periods (3200 - 430 BC)
Through Columns

Made of Carrara white marble and
carrying different capitals, the columns
of the church told the story of the
upcoming historic periods.

Their shapes varied from one column to
another as the church faced destruction
several times but was rapidly restored.
Over the period of 1600 years, every time the
destroyed columns were restored depending on
the contemporary period at that time. Another
saying states that after the contribution of the
Copts in the war of Jerusalem with Salah El
Din El Ayyubi, he rewarded them by restoring
the church. However, the restoring process was
too fast and the capitals were stored in a place
that belonged to the state and were randomly
chosen and placed over the columns. These
columns represent the history and civilization
of Egypt. The capitals of the pharaonic period,
carved on a shape of a lotus flower, existed
in the church. The capitals from the Hellenic
period, consisting of Corinthian-acanthus leaf
shape, were present too. In addition to these,
Ionic capitals that had volutes and were easy
to recognise were also found. Similar to its
counterparts, Roman capitals also appeared
in the church. Coptic capitals too were found.
These consisted of the shape of palm leaf or
carved-in crosses. Finally, from the islamic
period, miniature squinches that belonged to
the Ottoman period were the latest historic
symbol.

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Roman PeriodCoptic Period
(30 BC - 340 AD)(340 - 640 AD)

Greek Period Islamic Period
(430 - 30 BC) (640 AD - Present)

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Next Issue In
CA EXPLORE

Contemporary churches vs.
Early christian churhes: does
architecture really develop

over time or does it only
change in appearence ?

Magazine
Team

26

Thank you for
joining us on the
trip to The Holy
Virgin Chuch at

Haret Zeweila

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A mural painting in Zewela District: A mural painting of the dome in Virgin Mary Church in
Zewela District, dating back to the 15th Century A.D. It is a depiction of Christ the Lord,
surrounded by the four living creatures.

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