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El Moallaqa church
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The church of the Virgin Mary was constructed above the
two 59-st towers of the southern gateway of the fortress
of Babylon, replacing a small older building of the 4th
century. Since there is a view from it down to the roman
complex, the building soon became known as the hanging
church, el-moallaqa. The original church, which had
three aisles and was built in the 5th/6th century, was
destroyed in the 9th century and the remains converted
into a mosque.
The Patrick Alexander had it restored in the 10th
century and from the 11th century to the 14th century it
was even in use as the seat of the patriarchate. None
the less, the church was subjected to repeated attacks,
for instance by the crusaders in 1168 and the Mamluk in
1259 and 1280.
The last major rebuilding took place in the 18th and
19th centuries, when the church was extended by the
addition of a fourth aisle. Today it consists of a
narthex , the main for-aisle layout and three
sanctuaries dedicated to the virgin Mary ( center ) john
the Baptist ( right ) and St. George (left ) .
Two stairways descend from the northern part of the
outer aisles, one leadings to an underground area used
by the priests and deacons as a shelter and place of
prayer in time of danger, the other to a way of escape.
The chapel adjoining the main building is dedicated to
the Ethiopian saint takla during restoration work in
1984.
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Interior with pulpit |
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Inside the church, the visitor’s eye falls on two rows
of eight columns dividing the nave from the side aisles.
Three more columns spanned by arches, appear to standard
in the middle of the building.
They lie on the axis of the wall separating the
sanctuaries of the Virgin Mary and st. george and
thus mark the dividing line between the old nave and the
northern aisles in the old three-aisle basilica.
The pulpit described as an ambo dates from the 11th
century. It rises on 15 slender columns and is made of
colored marble.
The sanctuaries are divided from the body of the church
by a tall iconostasis of the 12th/13th century. It is
made of cedar and ebony and ornamented with geometrical
patterns and ivory inlay work. Icons are fitted into the
upper part of this screen, showing Christ with the
Virgin Mary, the archangels Michael and Gabriel and sts.
peter, Paul, and john the Baptist. At the right hand
chapel is situated the chapel of takla hajmanot.
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