Egypt: Restoration of the Monastery of St. George in Old Cairo

May – June 2014

The major restoration of the historic Greek Orthodox monastery of Saint George in Old Cairo is at its final stage. The monastery is a unique Rotunda in the Middle Eastern, which was a project carried out with the blessing of the Patriarch of Alexandria and All Africa, Theodore II.

According to Greek news, the official opening of the monastery is set to take place with magnificence and splendor, and in the presence of spiritual leading figures of the Orthodox Church and certain leaders of states. The opening will be taking place in the coming months, though a specific date has not been scheduled yet. Furthermore, the official website of the Patriarchate of Alexandria noted: “The renovation of the complex of the ancient Basilica and the Patriarchal Monastery of St George in Old Cairo, which is a Pan-Orthodox and universal shrine of great religious and spiritual importance, is the pinnacle of the multifaceted renovation activities by His Beatitude.

The cracks in the walls, the settling of the ground and the changes in the existing masonry, had rendered the stability of this Eastern Rotunda of the East precarious, as it is based on a three-floored Roman tower of circular ground plan from the 1st century A.D. and which was a part of the fortification of Babylon. This joint project between archaeologists, engineers, architects and conservation workers, includes anchoring and reconstruction of the Roman tower, the newer church, as well as maintenance of the hagiography of Constantine Parthenis.”

Source: