discover Monastery of Saint Mina

The discovery of the body of St. Mina and the construction of his first church 

The king of Constantinople had only a daughter with leprosy, so he sent her to Egypt to receive healing, and when the Princess arrived in Mariout, the pilgrims showed them the location of the Blessed sand, so she took the princess from her and put her on her body, and she spent the night in that place. Hence, the Saint appeared to her and recognized her himself, asking her to dig in this place to find his body. She summoned the soldiers and ordered them to dig up the place. She found the body of the saint, and when her father learned about what had happened, he built a small chapel (shrine) over the grave. 

The first church was expanded by Pope "Athanasius the Apostle": the Church of St. Athanasius in the monastery of Marmina in Marriott. The people of the city of Alexandria and the region of Mariout petitioned Pope Athanasius the Apostolic, the twentieth patriarch, to build a large church for visitors, but because of the persecution of the Arians, he was able to build the church only during the reign of Emperor Jovian, and a crypt was erected below it to place.

The expansions of Pope Theophilus

In the days of the reign of Kings "Arcadius and Anorius", the Sons of King Theodosius the great, Pope Theophilus XXIII went to celebrate the martyrdom of St. Mina, and he saw the great numbers of visitors suffering from hardship because of the crowds as the church narrowed them, and many were forced to stand outside. Pope Theophilus wrote to King Arcadius asking to expand the place, so the king ordered the construction of a spacious church.

Founding of the city of Saint Mina

After the King "Zeno" visited these churches for the blessing of the body of the saint, he built himself a great Palace next to the church. However, Pope Timothy II, the twenty-sixth patriarch, told King Zeno about the attacks of the Berbers who were invading Mariot and causing trouble to the churches.

Road services for visitors and city extensions

whether coming from Alexandria or from the delta country, connected by boat to the western shore of Lake Mariout, and then headed overland to the church. During the reign of King Anastasius, the ruler "philoxeneti" realized the difficulties facing the many crowds on the road that cuts through the desert area between the lake and the church, so he set up houses next to the lake to add visitors and restrooms to receive the crowds, in the center of which there is a market to buy their needs and spacious stores to deposit their belongings, and along the way from the lake to for a long time a huge variety of basins and baths were fed, which were heated through large underground furnaces The city was filled with living facilities, markets, various glass and porcelain factories, and so it turned into a great city filled with marble palaces and healing baths.

The fame of Saint Mina and the city

Patients came from all over the world to be hospitalized by the intercession of St. Mina, and small pottery flasks were made in the region to be filled from celandine oil suspended over the body of the martyr or from spring water located near the Tomb of the martyr, visitors take them to their countries for blessing and healing, and large numbers of these flasks have been discovered in many countries such as Cologne,  A huge selection of such vials. The period between the fifth and seventh centuries AD is considered the Golden Age of the city of St. Mina, as it was the second place of pilgrimage after Jerusalem.

Changes that occurred in the region until the X century

The region has been enjoying a quiet life for several centuries, and a radical change occurred only when the Persians invaded the country, and then the Arab conquest. Visitors from the Byzantine region and the former Roman region became nationals of hostile foreign countries, so their attendance stopped, the city was deprived of its basic source of income, and the number of residents in the sixth century AD in the area of Mariout was affected by the plague epidemic and an earthquake that destroyed many buildings. The Egyptologist "Wallis Budge" mentions that towards the end of the reign of the emperor "Hercules" the prosperity of the city began to decrease, and the number of pilgrims who came to bless from the shrine of St. Mina decreased, and during the years of unrest that occurred before the Arab conquest, after which the church was looted and the city was looted and then ruined, but when the Copts began to regain their influence and power, another church was built in the place of the old one and the Saint's day was celebrated again. But two centuries after the Arab conquest, as stated in the book "The History of the Patriarchs" in the biography of Pope Jacob, the fiftieth patriarch, that when one of the Princes stressed him in the tribute request, he had nothing to pay, as mentioned, from non-allegiance because people stopped coming to the allegiance of St. Mina because of the many wars, and during the reign of Pope Mark III, The Forty-ninth patriarch, there were two tribes great.

The Chalcedonian patriarch said that he owns the cruch

During the reign of Pope "Khael", the forty-sixth patriarch, the" dwarf " patriarch of the Chalcedonians claimed ownership of the Church of St. Mina in Marriott. In this regard, the English historian says, " A.L." The Roman patriarch was a 'dwarf' who was antagonizing the Copts and directing attacks on their churches, claiming that they were his legitimate rights, and he did not stop with this, but raised his lawsuit to the Muslim governor, asking him to give him the Church of St. Mina located in mariout and its many revenues and abundant goods.

Mina, which we described at length, was not less than a thousand dinars a year, even at the time of the decline and ruin of mariout, and its income was a lot of reason for the Romans to aspire to put their hand on it, although it was not for them at any time, and they did not erect a stone in it, and they did not hear news about it except when their eyes opened to the plunder of the Coptic Church". 

"The followers of the archpriest of Chalcedon sought this church for its fame because of the many miracles that were said to take place there, and because it has properties in many places," says the sign "James Drescher". As for the details of the story of this dispute, it is stated in the book of the history of the Patriarchs: "the Chalcedonian patriarch "a dwarf" came to the governor "Abd al-Malik ibn Musa" asking to hand over this church to him on the pretext that they have many churches in Egypt that were taken from them by the Copts when the Sultan of Rome disappeared, but the real reason was the fame of this church and its endowments. So the governor sent and summoned the Coptic and Chalcedonian patriarch, so Pope "khael" went to the governor with Anba "Tadrus" Bishop of Egypt and Anba "Moises" Bishop of Jerusalem, and they went to the governor's Palace every day from morning to evening, then the governor assigned one of his men to look at the case, he asked both parties to write what proves his right, and then this was repeated as he kept looking at the case for a month. At the end, the judge said to Pope "Khayel": - "Are you a witness that this sale is to your parents?" He replied: "Yes, I have someone who testifies to me about it from the day she lived until now," and the judge said: "how many days has she had since she was built?" He replied, "three hundred and fifty years," and the judge said, "and the witnesses live to this day since that time, you address me with proverbs that know me the truth. 

The patriarch replied: "My Father Theophilus and timathus, who built it after him, are the ones who testify to me that Theophilus, who founded it and arranged its cylinder, and this is his name written on it and mourned (died), and timathaus completed it and his name is written on it, are my witnesses today". The judge sent those he trusted, along with the writers and translators, and they read the writing in the church, and as the pope mentioned, "khael" was found, and the judge confirmed the authenticity of the patriarch's statement and handed over the church to him.

Choosing the patriarch of this church

Pope "Mina", the forty-seventh patriarch, had appointed Reverend John, a monk from the shihit wilderness, in charge of the Church of St. Mina in Marriott, and when this pope died, the fathers gathered bishops to choose a successor, they wrote the names of several people to choose one of them by lot, and one of the pious priests of Alexandria mentioned this priest, they wrote his name and made the draw three times, and his name came out each time, so they chose him for this position, Pope John the forty-eighth patriarch.

Seizure of church property and suspension of visitation

During the reign of Pope "Shenouda I", the fifty-fifth patriarch, a group of godparents imposed their authority over much of the country, seized the property of the Church of the martyr Mina, and also besieged the city of Alexandria for a long time until the depth of distress and depression and the Church of St. Mina became wild due to the interruption of visitors as a result of the events, although the shrine of the saint was not hurt badly.

Reconstruction in the twentieth century: Laying the foundation stone

This stone is located below the Eastern main altar of the Great Church of the monastery, which is known in the monastery as the cathedral, and appears behind the glass facade opposite the Tomb of Pope "Cyril VI" and on it, the marble plaque with the date of its placement.

Reconstruction work

The Church of the Virgin Mary: - it is facing the interior of the monastery, and it was opened for prayer in November 1961, and on its four beacons the phrase "Ayιος Μηνάς" is engraved, which is a phrase in Greek meaning "Saint Minas". 

The cathedral is decorated inside and out with inscriptions of the ancient Coptic style, the crowns of the columns are an example of those that were in the monastery of St. "Anba Apollo" in the area of Bayit (the center of the monasteries of Assiut Governorate) from the sixth century AD, one of which is currently preserved in the Louvre Museum in Paris. The ceiling of the cathedral is decorated with a cross of each of its wings in the form of the famous Lotus Flower in ancient Egyptian art. 

The marble works in the marble workshop inside the monastery were designed and executed by the sculptor "Ava Mina" and the monastic fathers. On Monday, January 10, 2005, corresponding to Blessed 2, 1721, Pope "Shenouda III" inaugurated the altars of the cathedral. 5-the shrine of Pope "Cyril VI": - it is located below the eastern part of the cathedral, below the altar area, and includes his body, which was placed in the burial place of the Patriarchs under the Great St. Mark's Cathedral in Cairo after his death, and then transferred to the monastery on November 24, 1973 ad based on his will. Inside the shrine from the east side, there is a glass facade with some of his clothes on display, including a robe he gave to the emperor "hellaslasi", the emperor of Abyssinia, and his own watch. 6-The Church of St. Mark the Apostle: - It was erected along the cathedral from the eastern side so that it would be one unit with the shrine of Pope Cyril VI.

St. Julius Al-aqfahisi church: - this church is named after St. Julius Al-aqfahisi, the biographer of the martyrs, who took care of the shrouding of their bodies, located in the southeast corner of the monastery wall microfilm Center: - the center receives ancient manuscripts from churches and monasteries, renovates and chemically processes them to protect them, then photocopies and makes copies of them.library building: - it consists of three floors. hostess: - it is located to the right of the interior of the monastery, prepared to receive large numbers of visitors, and provides a frame meal for visitors, and the building has a church named after Saint "Mercurius Abi Sevin", and the western facade of the building contains two lighthouses.