Overview
The Coptic Museum is a historical, cultural and religious museum in the Egyptian capital, Cairo. The museum houses the largest collection of Christian Egyptian (Coptic) artifacts, including art, in the world, and covers the history of Christianity in Egypt from its inception to the present.
general data
The Coptic Museum is located in the historic district of Cairo known as Coptic Cairo (near the Mary Gerges metro station).
Currently, the Coptic Museum complex extends over an area of ​​8,000 square meters - this land was provided by the Coptic Orthodox Church under the patronage of Patriarch Kyrollos V of Alexandria.
The museum’s first president - the museum’s founder is Marcus Simaka Pasha, succeeded by Dr Togo Mina (Dr Togo Mina), and later - Dr Bahour Labib (Dr Bahour Labib), the first to hold the position of museum director.
Museum history
The Coptic Patriarchate Museum was founded in 1908. Here, in particular, with the permission of Patriarch Kyrollos V, relics were brought from the Coptic monasteries and churches. In 1910 a special building was constructed for the museum. The grand opening of the museum took place on March 14 of the same year (1910). In the future, the building was frequently expanded at the expense of outbuildings.
The Coptic community generously donated to the museum including the transfer of art and worship pieces (frescoes, icons, church utensils, clothes, etc.) to restore the museum's collection.
In 1931, the Coptic Museum was granted the status of the State Museum Foundation, which was run by the Egyptian Antiquities Department. In 1939 a collection of Coptic antiquities was transferred from the Cairo Egyptian Museum to the museum. In particular, they were placed in the new wing, the construction of which was completed in 1944.
Due to the partial destruction, the old wing was closed in 1966, and the entire museum was restored between 1983 and 1984. Work on strengthening the foundations and walls of the museum building, which was carried out in 1986-1988, helped the museum withstand the 1992 earthquake. Restoration work was carried out. New to the Coptic Museum in 2005-2006.
Exhibition and activity
The Coptic Museum's exhibition and funds are a collection of unique pieces of Coptic culture, including objects of worship and art, the largest in the world. The total number of storage units in the Coptic Museum is about 15,000.
The collection is distributed in various department halls (depending on the types of arts). Coptic antiquities from outside Egypt and grave-digging materials were allocated to a special department. The museum contains a library of ancient manuscripts, the most important of which are 1200 manuscripts. Nag Hammadi libraries (religious symbols written in the Coptic language, collected and produced in the first centuries AD, discovered in 1945 near the city of Nag Hammadi), can only be accessed with special permission and researchers only.
The Coptic Museum constantly undertakes archaeological expeditions to renew their collections, with excavations in the Abu Mina area (80 km west of Alexandria) in 1950-1951, and in 1961 excavations were carried out inside Cairo in conjunction with the German Archaeological Institute.
The Coptic Museum is an important cultural center for the Copts, Cairo and Egypt in general.
Visiting dates: -
From nine o'clock in the morning until five o'clock in the evening.
Ticket price:-
Entrance ticket price for Egyptians: -
The price of the entry ticket for Egyptians is 10 Egyptian pounds, on different days.
Ticket price for Egyptian students: -
The ticket price for students is only 5 pounds, provided that the university card for the current academic year is shown.
Ticket price for foreigners: -
The price of entry ticket for foreigners is 120 pounds.
Ticket price for foreign students: -
The price of entrance ticket for foreign students is only 60 pounds
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