In Dakados, there are the ancient church of the Virgin Mary and St. Joseph the Carpenter, the ancient church of the Virgin Mary and the modern church of St. Mark the Apostle. There is a talk about the disappeared church of Chabot the Martyr, which Abu Al-Makarim spoke about in the 12th century, as he spoke of the existence of two churches in Dakados: a church of St. George and another of Chabot the Martyr.
Church of the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph
There is currently an old church in the name of the Mother of God, the Virgin Mary, dating back to the year 1888 AD. It is built over an older church dating back to 1239 AD, which was mentioned in manuscript No. 27 preserved in the church, dated 1332 AD. As written by Yaqut Al-Hamawi in the dictionary of countries, it disappeared as a result of a flood at the beginning of the 19th century.
Certainly, it is not the first church built in this place. Rather, it was preceded by other churches, one of which may date back to the fourth century AD when Queen Helena ordered around (250-330 AD) to build churches in some of the places where the Holy Family resided. But this first church has completely disappeared, and only the 13th century church and the Holy Well remained in the place according to manuscript 53 of the National Library in Paris.
In the church site, there exists an Iconostasis from the thirteenth century in the upper church in which there are unique ancient icons dating back about 120 years, painted in Jerusalem, painted with gold water. One of them is for the departure of the Virgin and the other has the father and mother of the Virgin depicted in it.
There exists a church at a level lower than the level of the current church (about 6 meters) below the Sanctuary and the Chancel. After digging and excavation, traces of three ancient sanctuaries were found at the eastern wall of the church and next to them from the southern side, the old baptistery, which has now vanished, and only an apse and an entrance to the ancient church remain.
As for the three ancient sanctuaries, only three apses (the Bosom of the Father) and the ancient middle altar remain, which are now located at the bottom of the middle sanctuary of the upper main church. Also, on the Father’s Bosom, we find an engraving representing a Coptic inscription, a sun disk, symbolizing the Sun of Righteousness, Jesus Christ. Likewise, on the northern Father’s Bosom, we find a shell engraved symbolizing baptism and eternal life, while on the southern side we find a cross engraved inside the apse.
As for the set of icons, there are about 18 ancient icons, most of them from 1880 AD and some of them before this date. These icons are characterized by rarity, beauty and artistic creativity, and most of them are from Jerusalem art, due to the Church’s relationship with the Jerusalem See in Jerusalem at the time.
There are two of these icons at the entrance and one inside at the north-eastern side of the church depicting the flight of the Holy Family to Egypt. The two entrance icons are: on the right the Virgin Mary and on the left of the baptismal icon. We find also an icon depicting the massacre of the children of Bethlehem, a unique embodiment of its kind in that church. Among those icons, there are also: the icon of Christ the Almighty, the baptismal icon, the crucifixion icon, the burial icon, and three icons of the Resurrection.
Also, there are the icon of the Virgin Lady Mona Lisa, which simulates one of the icons drawn by St. Luke the apostle, and the icon of the Virgin’s genealogy, located to the right of the main Sanctuary, which is one of the rare icons representing the Blessed Virgin the Queen and on her right and left her father, St. Joachim, and her mother, St. Anna. There is also an icon of the Virgin Mother and an icon of the Departure of the Virgin Mary dating back to the year 1880 AD. There are also icons of St. Mark the Apostle, St. George, Prince Tadros and St. Demiana, as well as a rare icon of St. Afmoumia.
Church of the Virgin Mary
The current church was built in 1881 AD on the site of the successive old churches that were built in the same place. The biography of Pope Cyril IV the father of reform (1853-1862 AD) reminds us that the church door was moved from the southern side to the western side and was made high to a degree that was not permitted before. This indicates the existence of a church built about 20 years before 1881 AD. In the document left to us by Rev. Abdel Sayed Hanna, specifically on December 21, 1908 AD, he mentions that the church was renovated in 1900 AD by Anba Timothy al-Shiblanji, Bishop of the Jerusalem See, who cared for the church a lot.
Rev. Abdel Sayed indicates that this renovation came after forty years of building the old church and stated that this is the third building of the church on the same site. It was designed in the style of Byzantine churches (Coptic-Byzantine), which depended on the domes to cover them and gave them the shape of a cross.
The church has four marble columns five meters high, carrying a circular dome. This dome is surrounded by four other domes, and at the extension of the main dome there is a flat roof given the shape of a cross.
On the eastern side, there is a rare wooden iconostasis that separates the three sanctuaries. It consists of small pieces of conical wood and has a special intricate design that is assembled together to make an image when installing all the pieces to form geometric shapes and crosses. It shows the shapes of longitudinal crosses surrounded by parts of the star plate. Also, on the icon holder, there is a group of icons dating back to 1880 AD, brought specially from Jerusalem.
As for the three sanctuaries, we find the main one after the name of the Virgin Mary, the right one after the name of Archangel Michael, and the third one after the name of the great martyr St. George. There is also an eastern cavity (the bosom of the father) on which is a modern mosaic drawing of the resurrection of Christ.
The Church of St. Mark the Apostle
It is a small church located on the northern side of the ancient upper church of the Virgin, which is dedicated to the evangelist of the Egyptian lands, St. Mark the Apostle. It was built in 1964, renovated in 1989, and re-consecrated again after its expansion in 1994.
The church is in the basilica style, and has three sanctuaries, the middle sanctuary is in the name of St. Mark. As for the iconostasis, it holds icons painted in Coptic art, at the right side the icon of the Virgin Mary the Queen carrying baby Jesus, and on the left the icon of Jesus sitting on the throne, and it holds also the icons of the angel Gabriel and the angel Michael. At the top, there is an icon of the Eucharist establishment above the door of the central sanctuary, and around it on both sides are twelve icons of the Disciples of Christ – six on each side.
