Biggest cathedral in Middle East to be inaugurated on Sunday

CAIRO – 3 January 2019: The New Administrative Capital's cathedral, the biggest in the Middle East, will be inaugurated on Sunday by President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi and Pope Tawadros II, official spokesman of the Coptic Church, Paul Halim declared on Thursday.

Halim said that those who will attend the inauguration, which will mark the Christmas mass on January 6, should have an invitation.

Sisi announced in 2015 the construction of a new city, which he described as the new administrative and financial capital of Egypt.

Egypt Today presents the most important information about the cathedral in the New Administrative Capital:

1. It is called the “Cathedral of the birth of Christ.”
2. It is the largest church in the Middle East.
3. It is located east of the exhibition project EXPO, south of the central park in the new capital.
4. It is implemented on 15 acres or 63,000 square meters.
5. It is built on 7,500 square meters.
6. It has the capacity to hold some 9,000 citizens.
7. It contains a main square, papal headquarters, a reception hall, and a meeting room; the administrative offices are currently under construction.
8. Orascom Company is responsible for the implementation of the church under the supervision of the engineering body of the Egyptian Armed Forces.
9. The construction of the administrative capital's church began last January.
10. The cathedral contains a two-story underground garage and a service building.
11. There are two lighthouses designed for the cathedral.
12.The lighthouse was designed according to Coptic architecture and contains several bells at its top.
13. The general consultants of the project are ACE and SSA.
14. About 30 percent of the church area was built without a basement.

The New Capital, which is currently being developed by the New Administrative Capital for Urban Development, will include residential districts, educational institutions, hospitals, 40,000 hotel rooms, a theme park, solar plants and a new international airport.

Land plots in the new capital are already available for investors and developers who are interested in participating in the megaproject.