Christian town dating back to 6th century discovered along Egyptian coast

MAREA, Egypt — A team of Polish researchers has discovered evidence of a well-built Christian settlement dating back to the 6th century in the ancient Egyptian coastal city of Marea.

Some archaeologists in the Polish team said that the settlement has a building used by Christians in the pilgrimage to Abu Mina and the tomb of St. Mina, a Coptic martyr associated with healing who died in the late 3rd century — a time when Christians were still persecuted.

“It was a great surprise for us because new towns weren’t being built in Egypt at the time,” said archaeologist Mariusz Gwiazda.

The Christian settlement seems to have been built on what was a Roman vineyard, and the cathedral was built on the site of a former church.

Hussein Abdel Basir, Egyptologist and director of the Antiquities Museum of Bibliotheca Alexandrina, said that the importance of the newly discovered settlement lies in the fact that it is a confluence of Greek, Roman and Byzantine civilizations, adding that wine production “allowed commercial and cultural exchange, and led to the emergence of a large settlement and buildings, which confirms the greatness of this site in the past.”