Coptic Church of the Blessed Virgin of Zeitoun

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Zeitoun in Vienna

The Coptic Church of the Blessed Virgin of Zeitoun is the episcopal church of the Coptic Diocese for Austria and German-speaking Switzerland. It is located in the Hirschstetten district in the 22nd district of Vienna, Donaustadt , Quadenstrasse 4-6.

history

Coptic Christians from Egypt came to Austria since the 1970s and received pastoral care from the beginning. The Roman Catholic Church made the so-called " Russian Church " in Vienna-Donaustadt available to the Copts , where the Coptic congregation celebrated the services with their priest Johannes El-Baramousy. Because of the continued influx of Egyptian Christians to Vienna (around 5000), this church was no longer sufficient as a place of worship. Therefore, in 1998 in the presence of the Coptic Pope Schenuda III. the foundation stone was laid for the Church of the Blessed Virgin of Zeitoun. In 2000, the diocese for Austria and German-speaking Switzerland were established and Bishop Anba Gabriel was consecrated. In 2003 the state recognition of the Coptic Orthodox Church as a corporation under public law by the Republic of Austria. After the completion of the church it was on July 11, 2004 by Pope Schenuda III. consecrated . Bishop Gabriel had previously been appointed Bishop of Austria and Eastern Switzerland for life in the presence of four Coptic bishops.

Building description

The patronage of the church refers to an apparition of Mary over the church of Zeitoun in 1968. The authenticity of the apparitions was confirmed by the Coptic Pope Kirellos VI. and confirmed to the Catholic Patriarch of the Coptic Uniate Church.

The newly built church in Vienna is located at Quadenstrasse 4-6 in the 22nd district of Donaustadt in the former Viennese suburb of Hirschstetten.

A staircase leads up to the three-aisled basilica. Rooms for the congregation are located under the church service room. The entrance front is flanked by two towers, at the opposite end there are three apses as a closure.

The equipment was made in Egypt and is in the Coptic style . It is dominated by the iconostasis made of wood, which, like the carved church pews, come from the St. Barsum monastery near Cairo . The icons were created in the Sitt-Damiana nunnery in Damiette . Instead of the usual central door there is an embroidered curtain from the St. George's monastery in Biba, which depicts the Virgin Mary . The chairs with carved decorations, including the bishop's throne, come from the Anba-Bischoi monastery in Wadi an-Natrun . Above the central gate of the iconostasis there is a representation of the Last Supper and above it three icons of the crucifixion of Christ and of St. Mary and John Evangelista .

Next to the church building is the bishop's house, a seminar room and rooms for the children of the community.

  • Northwest view

  • West view

  • Southeast view

  • inside view

literature

  • Constantin Gegenhuber: Constructed prayers. Christian sacred architecture - new buildings in Austria from 1990 to 2011 . Pustet, Salzburg 2011, ISBN 978-3-7025-0632-2 , chap. Vienna-Hirschstetten: Coptic Orthodox Church , S. 76-83 .
  • Franz Gschwandtner, Christian host: The Eastern Churches in Vienna. A guide to the Orthodox and Oriental communities . Styria Verlag, Vienna 2004.

Web links

Commons : Coptic Church of the Blessed Virgin of Zeitoun  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 48 ° 14 ′ 5.8 ″  N , 16 ° 28 ′ 6 ″  E