Archaeological Church of the Virgin
The Church of the Virgin Mary in Baramos Monastery is the oldest church of its kind in the monasteries of Wadi al-Natrun. It was built in the Coptic style, with an area of 1200 square meters. It is located south of the fortress and its entrance overlooks it.
The church has two doors, one on the south and the other on the northern side. A sentence on the northern door was written in Coptic, meaning “Jesus Christ, the Son of God” with simple ornaments above it.
The church has three Sanctuaries: the middle one is under the name of the Virgin Mary, and in front of it is a large wooden door made of sycamore wood, about 6 meters long and two meters wide, and it has four doors held together by iron hinges. This door dates back to the Fatimid era and is inlaid with beautifully made fillings.
At an unspecified time, the door was fixed with nails, and a small door was opened in the middle of it that could accommodate only one person.
The southern sanctuary is in the name of Maximus and Domadeus, and the northern sanctuary in the name of Anba Musa the Black and Anba Isidore.
The nave of the church is divided into three “khurus”, the first of has a shrine in the northern side made of inlaid wood as a gift from the deceased Bishop Benjamin, Metropolitan of Menoufia in 1957 AD. The shrine contains two tubes, the first contains the remains of Anba Moussa and the second contains the remains of his teacher Anba Isidore.
As for the second khurus, there is the ancient the pulpit and it has a staircase entrance that enters it from the first chorus, which is about two meters above the ground and is supported by a wooden pillar. In the third khurus, there is a marble basin in the middle, about 60 cm wide and 90 cm long, with a circular cavity in the middle. It was used in the Laqqan prayer (Blessed Water Prayer)
In the Southwestern side, there is the column of St. Arsanius with a beautiful crown back from the early Corinthian style, and it is believed that it is the oldest architectural part in the church.
In the northwestern corner there is the old baptistery room, and in the west side of the church there is a corridor that leads to the ancient dining room called the “Maeda”.
Next to the northern door, on the eastern side, we find the church of Prince Tadros, as well as the Church of St. George on the northwestern side of the church, next to the old baptistery.
This church has been restored through generations, and the last restoration was in 1988
Prince Tadros Church
The Church of Prince Tadros is located inside the ancient church on the northern side, and its entrance is in the northwestern wall of the church in the second khurus. It measures 3.20 x 3.20 meters and has one small sanctuary.
St George Church
Saint George Church is located in the ancient church next to the baptistery and its nave is 6 x 5,30 meters
An inscription in the ancient Armenian language was found on the eastern wall next to the sanctuary entrance, dating back to the early eleventh century. In this church there are remains of Saint George the Roman, St. George the Muzahim, and St. George of Alexandria.
St John the Baptist Church
The Church of St. John the Baptist was built by Pope Kyrillos V in 1876 AD. It was built on the ruins of a church that was before it in the name of Anba Apollo and Anba Abib, and it was built by the Ibrahim El-Gohary.
The news of the construction of this church is mentioned in a manuscript containing the biography of Takla Himanout al-Habashi located in the Barmos Monastery. He says: “On Friday of the month of Babah in the year 1794 AD, during the reign of Pope Yoannis the 18th, the monks of the Baramos Monastery went to the Ibrahim Al-Gohary and informed him that the old palace (the fort) had been demolished. They asked him to take care of its restoration, so he brought Anba Youssab, Bishop of the Resurrection, and gave him money, crops, and all the building needs. So the bishop, the builders, and the workers went to the monastery and stayed there for five months. They repaired the ruins of the palace, and built a church inside it in the name of Archangel Michael. The monastery had a cemetery where the bodies of Anba Apollo and Anba Abib were buried, so the bishop sent and informed Ibrahim El-Gohary that he wanted to build a church for these saints. Ibrahim El-Gohary was pleased to know this and made him build a church for these saints, so the bishop built it and inaugurated it on the thirtieth day of the month of Amshir, which is the third Sunday of fasting back then.”
This church is located to the right side of the eastern door of the ancient monastery, and it has three sanctuaries: the middle one is in the name of Saint John the Baptist, the Southern sanctuary is in the name of Anba Arsanios and the northern one is in the name of Anba Apollo and Anba Abib.
It has an iconostasis that was done by Anba Youannis (Pope Youannis the 19th) in 1910 AD
This church was restored in the modern era in the sixties of the last century during the presidency of the deceased Anba Makarios, Bishop of the monastery. The second restoration was in 1981 AD, and it was painted from the inside and its walls were bound with wood to a height of one meter from the ground. The southern and northern sanctuaries were also enlarged longitudinally after removing what was behind them, and the roof was raised by removing the old rooms above it.
On Saturday, November 19, 1983, the late Pope Shenouda III inaugurated the three altars and the new baptistery.
As for the last restoration, it was in 2004 AD, and it was a complete restoration. Pope Shenouda III visited and blessed it in November 2005 after the restoration was completed.
Archangel Michael Church in the fort
The Archangel Michael Church is located in the fortress building on the third floor, and was built by master Ibrahim El-Gohary. It is a small church with an iconostasis made of interlaced wood engraved with crosses and in its nave are two khurus separated by a wooden barrier.
