Mary Church Helwan

About the Church

The Church of the Virgin Mary is the seat of the Diocese of Helwan and Maasara and all its dependencies. It was founded in Helwan al-Hammamat by Pope Cyril V, who laid its foundation stone on 23 Babah 1614 AM, corresponding to 1 November 1897 AD, under the guidance of the late scholar Hegumen Mikhail Mina al-Maqari, who supervised its construction after returning from an academic mission in Athens. He adorned its walls with Coptic-style paintings that he produced himself, all of which have since been lost. This place was once home to the monks' theological school in Helwan, headed by Hegumen Mikhail Mina, and among those who passed through it was the thrice-blessed Pope Cyril VI (Hegumen Mina the Recluse).

Before 1970 it was a small church. This sanctuary, restored many times over, measured eleven metres from the sanctuary screen to the western door, and was wider than that by only two and a half metres. Its small sanctuary held an altar at the centre dedicated to the Virgin Mary, crowned by a dome at a fitting height, and a second altar on the northern side dedicated to the great martyr Mar Girgis. The baptismal font stood to the right of the priest as he faced the main altar.

In 1970 the thrice-blessed Anba Boulos demolished it entirely in order to build a larger church in its place. Work continued from 1970 until 1988, when His Grace Anba Bisenti inherited it as bare columns and concrete. After taking up pastoral responsibility, he sought the counsel of His Holiness Pope Shenouda III during a special visit in February 1989, after which he expanded the cathedral's area by 30 per cent and completed the finishing works, until it became the vast cathedral that so impressed His Holiness Pope Shenouda when he consecrated it in 1996. The cathedral is adorned inside and out with icons and an iconostasis produced by the Monastery of Anba Barsoum al-Eryan.