Friday, April 15, 2011

Coptic Church


This is the St Mark Coptic Orthodox Church Canberra, located in the suburb of Kaleen.

'Coptic' refers to Egypt, and the Coptic church traces its lineage back to St Mark the Apostle, who went to Alexandria and founded the Christian church there. St Mark was considered the first in a line of 117 Popes of Alexandria.

This building was officially opened by the current Coptic Pope in 1991, and is in the Coptic architectural style, which, as I discovered in a Google search, is influenced by ancient Egyptian architecture, Graeco-Roman basilicas, Byzantine and Western European styles, and is often quite plain externally but with ornate decoration inside.

St Mark Coptic Orthodox Church
Corner Georgina Cr & Maribyrnong Ave
Kaleen ACT 2617

1 comment:

Jim said...

Very interesting. We have a St Mark's Coptic Orthodox Church in my suburb of Sydney too.