 |
Al-Ahram Weekly 3 - 9 August 2000 Issue No. 493 
|
||
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
|
Al-Ahram Weekly 3 - 9 August 2000 Issue No. 493
|
||
| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
| ||
Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons A restoration controversy
By Nevine El-ArefAn ambitious scheme for restoring the Hanging Church, one of Cairo's oldest, is an indication of the government's commitment to preserving the nation's Coptic, as well as Pharaonic and Islamic, heritage. And yet, the church's pastor, Father Morqos Aziz, is suing the Ministry of Culture and the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) for what he claims to be irreparable damage inflicted on the structure during the restoration work.
The church is believed to have been built in the 4th century AD on a site which, according to legend, was visited by the Holy Family during their flight to Egypt.
These days the serenity befitting a place of worship has been disrupted by noisy machinery used in restoration, sitting among piles of sand behind the church.
Launched in 1997, the restoration scheme is directed at righting years of bungled repair work that left the church in a state of disarray. LE31 million has been allocated to fix up this historically significant site.
Resting on ancient foundations, the church has a strong base upon which it has endured the test of time. Hussein Ahmed Hussein, the engineer in charge, pointed out that the church sits atop the two south-western bastions of the Roman Fortress of Babylon. Though well constructed originally, the buildings foundations have been worn down by the high water table and poor sewage infrastructure. The impact of these problems was compounded by further damage following a major earthquake in October 1992. As a result, the columns which support the church began to lean.
The principal aim of the restoration plan is to install an efficient sewage system to protect the Fortress of Babylon and the church foundations against rising subterranean water. The plan also calls for restoring the church's woodwork, frescoes and icons.
For better or worse, the restoration of the Hanging Church is underway
photo: Khaled El-Fiqi
A monumental endeavour, the project involves more than 500 workmen, engineers and antiquities experts and incorporates highly specialized restoration techniques and state-of-the art equipment.
But Father Aziz is not impressed. He accused the SCA of carelessness, negligence and using incorrect methods of restoration. "The restoration process is executed upside-down," he said. "They started by working on the ceiling of the church, not its foundations. How can that be?"
Father Aziz claimed that a first century Roman fresco featuring Roman emperors worshipping their deities was completely destroyed during the restoration. "I complained to engineer Sherif Hanna, but he did nothing," Father Aziz said.
Mohamed Mahgoub, director-general of Old Cairo monuments, offered a different account of what transpired. The fresco, he said, was discovered on a church wall atop the Fortress of Babylon during an earlier restoration project executed in 1983.
"And since Copts believe that this scene is idolatrous, and thus should not be shown in a church, the wall was covered with limestone," said Mahgoub. "Had Father Aziz complained to me or any archaeologist in charge, we could have found a solution for cleaning the wall and revealing the scene. Nobody is to blame except Father Aziz because he complained to an engineer, not an archaeologist."
Mahmoud Bereiqa, an archaeologist responsible for restoration of fine art, said that the restoration work is carried out according to documents, "and there is no mention of this fresco in any document. We inquired with our colleagues who worked on the earlier restoration plan and they said that there were scribbles on the wall, not a fresco."
Father Aziz also complained that the leaning support columns are not included in the SCA restoration plan. Added to this, the top of a 1,500-year-old marble pulpit was covered with plaster, he said. "When I objected, the restorers removed the plaster and, in the process, a piece of marble was broken," he added. "If they do not know how to restore a marble pulpit, they should bring in specialists."
Moreover, Father Aziz told Al-Ahram Weekly, "what will drive me mad is that the electronic sensors installed in the church to monitor cracks and foundations do not indicate any problems, although cracks have appeared on several walls."
Hussein rejected Father Aziz's complaints, insisting that the restoration work is carried out carefully and step-by-step. He also pointed out that the restoration project is still ongoing and much work is yet to be executed.
Ayman Abdel-Moneim, director of the Old Cairo Documentation Centre, said that the electronic sensors are not functioning because there is no need for them any longer. These sensors, he said, were used to "monitor the movement of cracks while the process of siphoning off water below the fort and church and reinforcing the foundation was undertaken, so that we would know whether this process was adversely affecting the foundations. But now, one year after completing the removal of the water and the reinforcement of the church foundations, there is no need to operate these sensors."
For his part, Culture Minister Farouk Hosni said that restoring the church is an indication that Egypt is committed to preserving its heritage. "This is not a religious issue," Hosni said. "It is about restoring one of the most important monuments with an eminent place in national history."
"I appreciate the efforts of Father Aziz, but please let him look after his church and prayers and leave the restoration work to the experts who know what they are doing," Hosni said. "I also invite Pope Shenouda, the patriarch of the Coptic Church, to visit the Hanging Church and provide his opinion about the restoration work."
The restoration of the Hanging Church, which also involves work on an annex of the Coptic Museum and the remains of a Roman wall, is part of a larger scheme to upgrade Old Cairo. A plan by the American Research Centre to promote the area where the Amr Ibn Al-'As mosque, Coptic churches and the Synagogue of Ben Ezra as a site showcasing monuments of all three monotheistic religions has been approved by the Permanent Committee on Islamic Monuments.
Related stories:
Landscaping a religious complex- 2 - 8 December 1999
Ancient church readies for new millennium- 26 Novemver- 2 December 1998
