Saint Barbara Church in Coptic Cairo

The Coptic Orthodox Church of St. Barbara (or Sitt Barbara) is one of the many famous Coptic Orthodox parishes that can be found in the district of Coptic Cairo. The building is located on the eastern part of the Babylon Fortress and is one of the oldest buildings in Cairo, dating back to the 5th or 6th century AD. However, like many other buildings of Coptic architecture, it was rebuilt several times, most notably by the end of the 11th century.HistorySt. Barbara's Church stands north of the Coptic Museum and is east of the Church of Saints Sergius and Bacchus (Abu Serga), on the eastern side of Fort Babylon. It was originally dedicated to Abu Kir and Yohanna (or Ss. Cyrus and John). When the remains of St. Barbara were brought here, a separate sanctuary was built. Thus, there are now two separate churches that were built on this location. Athanasius, a wealthy scribe and a secretary of Abdel-Aziz Ibn Marwan (governor of Egypt between 685 and 705 AD), had built the Church. A door found during one of the church's many restorations could date as early as the 4th Century. Between 1072 and 1073, the Church was fully restored to house the relics of Saint Barbara. These relics remain to this day. The Church was damaged again by another fire during the 12th century. In fact, the church was renovated as recently as the beginning of the 20th century, when the khurus, a transverse room preceding the sanctuary, was sacrificed in order to allow more space.