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<!DOCTYPE html> <html lang="en"> <head> <title>CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Alexandria</title><script src="https://dtyry4ejybx0.cloudfront.net/js/cmp/cleanmediacmp.js?ver=0104" async="true"></script><script defer data-domain="newadvent.org" src="https://plausible.io/js/script.js"></script><link rel="canonical" href="https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01299d.htm"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> <meta name="description" content="Seaport of Egypt, on the left bank of the Nile"> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="RSS" href="http://feeds.newadvent.org/bestoftheweb?format=xml"><link rel="icon" href="../images/icon1.ico" type="image/x-icon"><link rel="shortcut icon" href="../images/icon1.ico" type="image/x-icon"><meta name="robots" content="noodp"><link type="text/css" rel="stylesheet" href="../utility/screen6.css" media="screen"></head> <body class="cathen" id="01299d.htm">  <br/> <div id="capitalcity"><table summary="Logo" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 width="100%"><tr valign="bottom"><td align="left"><a href="../"><img height=36 width=153 border="0" alt="New Advent" src="../images/logo.gif"></a></td><td align="right"> <form id="searchbox_000299817191393086628:ifmbhlr-8x0" action="../utility/search.htm">  <input type="hidden" name="safe" value="active"> <input type="hidden" name="cx" value="000299817191393086628:ifmbhlr-8x0"/> <input type="hidden" name="cof" value="FORID:9"/>  <label for="searchQuery" id="searchQueryLabel">Search:</label> <input id="searchQuery" name="q" type="text" size="25" aria-labelledby="searchQueryLabel"/>  <label for="submitButton" id="submitButtonLabel" class="visually-hidden">Submit Search</label> <input id="submitButton" type="submit" name="sa" value="Search" aria-labelledby="submitButtonLabel"/> </form> <table summary="Spacer" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td height="2"></td></tr></table> <table summary="Tabs" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr> <td bgcolor="#ffffff"></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../"> Home </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_white_on_color" href="../cathen/index.html"> Encyclopedia </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../summa/index.html"> Summa </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../fathers/index.html"> Fathers </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../bible/gen001.htm"> Bible </a></td> <td class="tab"><a class="tab_color_on_beige" href="../library/index.html"> Library </a></td> </tr></table> </td> </tr></table><table summary="Alphabetical index" width="100%" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td class="bar_white_on_color"> <a href="../cathen/a.htm"> A </a><a href="../cathen/b.htm"> B </a><a href="../cathen/c.htm"> C </a><a href="../cathen/d.htm"> D </a><a href="../cathen/e.htm"> E </a><a href="../cathen/f.htm"> F </a><a href="../cathen/g.htm"> G </a><a href="../cathen/h.htm"> H </a><a href="../cathen/i.htm"> I </a><a href="../cathen/j.htm"> J </a><a href="../cathen/k.htm"> K </a><a href="../cathen/l.htm"> L </a><a href="../cathen/m.htm"> M </a><a href="../cathen/n.htm"> N </a><a href="../cathen/o.htm"> O </a><a href="../cathen/p.htm"> P </a><a href="../cathen/q.htm"> Q </a><a href="../cathen/r.htm"> R </a><a href="../cathen/s.htm"> S </a><a href="../cathen/t.htm"> T </a><a href="../cathen/u.htm"> U </a><a href="../cathen/v.htm"> V </a><a href="../cathen/w.htm"> W </a><a href="../cathen/x.htm"> X </a><a href="../cathen/y.htm"> Y </a><a href="../cathen/z.htm"> Z </a> </td></tr></table></div> <div id="mobilecity" style="text-align: center; "><a href="../"><img height=24 width=102 border="0" alt="New Advent" src="../images/logo.gif"></a></div>  <div id="mi5"><span class="breadcrumbs"><a href="../">Home</a> > <a href="../cathen">Catholic Encyclopedia</a> > <a href="../cathen/a.htm">A</a> > Alexandria</span></div> <div id="springfield2"> <div class='catholicadnet-728x90' id='cathen-728x90-top' style='display: flex; height: 100px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; '></div> <h1>Alexandria</h1> <p><em><a href="https://gumroad.com/l/na2"><strong>Please help support the mission of New Advent</strong> and get the full contents of this website as an instant download. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more  all for only $19.99...</a></em></p> <p>An important seaport of <a href="../cathen/05329b.htm">Egypt</a>, on the left bank of the Nile. It was founded by Alexander the Great to replace the small borough called Racondah or Rakhotis, 331 B.C. The Ptolemies, Alexander's successors on the throne of <a href="../cathen/05329b.htm">Egypt</a>, soon made it the <a href="../cathen/08066a.htm">intellectual</a> and commercial <a href="../cathen/10244c.htm">metropolis</a> of the world. Cæsar who visited it 46 B.C. left it to Queen Cleopatra, but when Octavius went there in 30 B.C. he transformed the <a href="../cathen/05329b.htm">Egyptian</a> kingdom into a Roman province. Alexandria continued prosperous under the Roman rule but declined a little under that of Constantinople.</p> <p>When, after the treaty of October, 642, the <a href="../cathen/03096a.htm">Byzantines</a> abandoned it to Amru, the <a href="../cathen/01663a.htm">Arab</a> invaders hastened its ruin owing to the conqueror's impatience to build a new town, Cairo, and to transfer to it the government of <a href="../cathen/05329b.htm">Egypt</a> henceforth a <a href="../cathen/10424a.htm">Mussulman</a> province. The ruin had been great under the Arabians, but it became worse under the <a href="../cathen/15097a.htm">Turkish</a> rule when the victories of Selim had subjugated the valley of the Nile in 1517. <a href="../cathen/10687a.htm">Bonaparte</a> on the 2d of July, 1798, did not find more than 7,000 inhabitants in the town. Since then, thanks to the efforts of Mehemet Ali and to the great political and commercial events of the nineteenth century, the city of Alexandria has become once more the first port of the Eastern Mediterranean with 235,000 inhabitants.</p> <div class="CMtag_300x250" style="display: flex; height: 300px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; "></div> <p><a href="../cathen/03712a.htm">Christianity</a> was brought to Alexandria by the <a href="../cathen/05645a.htm">Evangelist</a> <a href="../cathen/09672c.htm">St. Mark</a>. It was made illustrious by a lineage of learned <a href="../cathen/05072b.htm">doctors</a> such as Pantænus, <a href="../cathen/04045a.htm">Clement of Alexandria</a>, and <a href="../cathen/11306b.htm">Origen</a>; it has been governed by a series of great <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishops</a> amongst whom <a href="../cathen/02035a.htm">Athanasius</a> and <a href="../cathen/04592b.htm">Cyril</a> must be mentioned. Under <a href="../cathen/05019a.htm">Dioscurus</a>, successor of Cyril, <a href="../cathen/05633a.htm">Eutychianism</a> appeared and the native population saw in it an excellent means of freeing themselves from Byzantium. Their <a href="../cathen/15753a.htm">zeal</a> for this <a href="../cathen/07256b.htm">heresy</a> transformed the town into a battle-field where blood was shed more than once during the fifth, sixth, and seventh centuries. At last the patriarchal <a href="../cathen/03041a.htm">church</a> of St. Mark found itself divided into two communions; the native <a href="../cathen/01300b.htm">Copts</a> bound to <a href="../cathen/05525a.htm">error</a>, and the foreign Greeks faithful to <a href="../cathen/11330a.htm">orthodoxy</a>. After the Arabian conquest, the Greek <a href="../cathen/11549a.htm">patriarchate</a> remained <a href="../cathen/15248b.htm">vacant</a> for many years; at the time of the Byzantine emperors and under the Ottoman sultan its holders were <a href="../cathen/11189a.htm">obliged</a> to live habitually at Constantinople. On the other hand, the Copt <a href="../cathen/11549a.htm">patriarchate</a> transferred itself to Cairo and saw most of its disciples become <a href="../cathen/10424a.htm">Mussulmans</a>. Today, owing to its commercial importance, Alexandria possesses within its walls every tongue and <a href="../cathen/03712a.htm">Christian</a> race: <a href="../cathen/01300b.htm">Copts</a>, Greeks, Latins, <a href="../cathen/01736b.htm">Armenians</a>, <a href="../cathen/09683c.htm">Maronites</a>, <a href="../cathen/14399a.htm">Syrians</a>, Chaldeans, <a href="../cathen/12495a.htm">Protestants</a>.</p> <p>(1) The <a href="../cathen/01300b.htm">Copts</a>, a small community, are divided into <a href="../cathen/10489b.htm">Monophysites</a> and <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholics</a>; the chief of the first is the <a href="../cathen/11549a.htm">Patriarch</a> of <a href="../cathen/01300b.htm">Alexandria</a>, and resides at Cairo; the chief of the latter is also <a href="../cathen/11549a.htm">Patriarch</a> of <a href="../cathen/01300b.htm">Alexandria</a> since <a href="../cathen/09169a.htm">Leo XIII</a> created this title in favour of Mgr. Macaire, 19 June, 1899.</p> <p>(2) The Greeks also form two groups, the so-called Orthodox and the <a href="../cathen/10157b.htm">Melchites</a>. The Orthodox, separated from <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a>, are divided into two factions which differ in language and origin, and live in enmity: on one side, the Hellenophones, many of whom are natives of the Greek kingdom; on the other, the Arabophones, subject to the Khedive or natives of <a href="../cathen/14399a.htm">Syria</a>; all these have a patriarch of Greek tongue and race whose official residence is in the town, near the <a href="../cathen/03041a.htm">church</a> of St. Sabas. The <a href="../cathen/10157b.htm">Melchites</a>, united to <a href="../cathen/13164a.htm">Rome</a>, are natives of <a href="../cathen/05329b.htm">Egypt</a> and <a href="../cathen/14399a.htm">Syria</a>; they are under the <a href="../cathen/11549a.htm">Patriarch</a> of <a href="../cathen/01300b.htm">Alexandria</a>, <a href="../cathen/01570a.htm">Antioch</a>, <a href="../cathen/08344a.htm">Jerusalem</a>, and all the East, but, as the <a href="../cathen/12386b.htm">prelate</a> resides at <a href="../cathen/04611a.htm">Damascus</a>, they are governed by a <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">bishop</a> who is vicar of the <a href="../cathen/11549a.htm">patriarchate</a>.</p> <p>(3) The Latins have no patriarch. A Latin <a href="../cathen/11549a.htm">patriarchate</a> was created by the <a href="../cathen/04543c.htm">Crusaders</a> who took Alexandria in 1202 and in 1367; but this <a href="../cathen/11549a.htm">patriarchate</a>, established residentially from 1859 to 1866, is become again merely nominal. Now, nothing but an apostolical vicariate exists; the vicar, a member of the <a href="../cathen/06281a.htm">Friars Minor</a> of St. Francis has specially under his direction the <a href="../cathen/05607b.htm">Europeans</a> of foreign colonies.</p> <p>(4) The <a href="../cathen/01736b.htm">Armenians</a> are divided into Gregorians and <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholics</a>; the latter have a <a href="../cathen/02581b.htm">Bishop</a> of Alexandria who resides, however at Cairo; the Gregorians are subject to a simple vartabet.</p> <p>(5) The <a href="../cathen/09683c.htm">Maronites</a>, whose number is increasing every day, wish to constitute a <a href="../cathen/05001a.htm">diocese</a>. In the meanwhile they are governed by <a href="../cathen/12406a.htm">priests</a> appointed by the <a href="../cathen/11549a.htm">Patriarch</a> of the <a href="../cathen/09104a.htm">Lebanon</a>.</p> <p>(6) To the 300 <a href="../cathen/14417a.htm">Syrian Catholics</a> of Alexandria and Cairo, a <a href="../cathen/16024c.htm">chorepiscopus</a> who resides in the latter town is given.</p> <div class="CMtag_300x250" style="display: flex; height: 300px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; "></div> <p>(7) Still less numerous, the United Chaldeans possess no special organization.</p> <p>(8) The <a href="../cathen/12495a.htm">Protestants</a> are represented at Alexandria by numerous <a href="../cathen/13674a.htm">sects</a>; the <a href="../cathen/01498a.htm">Anglican Church</a> has a community since the middle of the nineteenth century and a <a href="../cathen/13554b.htm">school</a>; the Scotch Free <a href="../cathen/02081a.htm">Church</a> has a church since 1867 and a <a href="../cathen/13554b.htm">school</a>; the Evangelical Church of <a href="../cathen/06484b.htm">Germany</a>, established in the town since 1857, opened a church in 1866 and a little <a href="../cathen/13554b.htm">school</a>. But these are for foreign residents; the mission of the United <a href="../cathen/12392b.htm">Presbyterian</a> Church of the <a href="../cathen/15156a.htm">United States</a> has a church and two <a href="../cathen/13554b.htm">schools</a> for the <a href="../cathen/01300b.htm">Copts</a> (about 100 members). Moreover, most of the <a href="../cathen/12495a.htm">Protestant</a> missions which work among the <a href="../cathen/01300b.htm">Copts</a> of Upper <a href="../cathen/05329b.htm">Egypt</a> have stations or lodgings at Alexandria.</p> <p>We must say the same of every <a href="../cathen/12748b.htm">religious</a> order of <a href="../cathen/03449a.htm">Catholic</a> missionaries in <a href="../cathen/05329b.htm">Egypt</a>. Several of these orders have scholastic establishments. The <a href="../cathen/14081a.htm">Jesuits</a> direct the <a href="../cathen/04107b.htm">college</a> of <a href="../cathen/06233b.htm">St. Francis Xavier</a>. The <a href="../cathen/08056a.htm">Brothers of the Christian Schools</a> conduct a <a href="../cathen/04107b.htm">college</a> to which a <a href="../cathen/13554b.htm">school</a> of arts and trades is attached. They have also free classes and different <a href="../cathen/13554b.htm">schools</a> in various parts of the town. The <a href="../cathen/05295b.htm">education</a> of young girls is conducted by different religious congregations, such as the Sisters of Charity, the Sisters of the Mother of God, and the Sisters of the Délivrande.</p> <div class='catholicadnet-728x90' id='cathen-728x90-bottom' style='display: flex; height: 100px; align-items: center; justify-content: center; '></div> <div class="pub"><h2>About this page</h2><p id="apa"><strong>APA citation.</strong> <span id="apaauthor">Pargoire, J.</span> <span id="apayear">(1907).</span> <span id="apaarticle">Alexandria.</span> In <span id="apawork">The Catholic Encyclopedia.</span> <span id="apapublisher">New York: Robert Appleton Company.</span> <span id="apaurl">http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01299d.htm</span></p><p id="mla"><strong>MLA citation.</strong> <span id="mlaauthor">Pargoire, Jules.</span> <span id="mlaarticle">"Alexandria."</span> <span id="mlawork">The Catholic Encyclopedia.</span> <span id="mlavolume">Vol. 1.</span> <span id="mlapublisher">New York: Robert Appleton Company,</span> <span id="mlayear">1907.</span> <span id="mlaurl"><http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01299d.htm>.</span></p><p id="transcription"><strong>Transcription.</strong> <span id="transcriber">This article was transcribed for New Advent by Vivek Gilbert John Fernandez.</span> <span id="dedication">Dedicated to Catholic missions and Catholic missionaries around the world.</span></p><p id="approbation"><strong>Ecclesiastical approbation.</strong> <span id="nihil"><em>Nihil Obstat.</em> March 1, 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor.</span> <span id="imprimatur"><em>Imprimatur.</em> +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.</span></p><p id="contactus"><strong>Contact information.</strong> The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address is webmaster <em>at</em> newadvent.org. Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical errors and inappropriate ads.</p></div> </div> <div id="ogdenville"><table summary="Bottom bar" width="100%" cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0><tr><td class="bar_white_on_color"><center><strong>Copyright © 2023 by <a href="../utility/contactus.htm">New Advent LLC</a>. 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