By Maydaa Nadar
Centrally located in the Egyptian capital of Cairo, the saints Constantine and Helen Church was historically inaugurated on September 28, 2019, after two years of restoration work.
In attendance were prominent figures, including Eastern Orthodox Patriarch Theodore II of Alexandria and all Africa, the Greek Deputy Minister of Education Sofia Zacharaki, and the Egyptian Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Anany.
President of Cairo’s Greek community Christos Kavalis, the Greek Ambassador to Egypt Nikolaos Garilidis, the Director of Cairo’s Greek Cultural Center Christos G. Papadopoulos, and translator Samuel Beshara were also amongst the attendees.
The church’s opening ceremony took place after having two years of restoration and renovation works, which was carried out by Cairo’s Greek community and funded by Aikaterina Sofianu.
The local Priest said that following restoration work, the church has returned to its former shining charm emphasising the close, distinguished bonds between Greece and Egypt.
Emanating from her affection to the Greek Diaspora across the world in general, to Egypt’s Greek community in particular, and out of her attention paid to Egypt’s culture and history, Greek musician Evanthia Reboutsika held a musical concert at the church that enjoys a special status across Egypt’s and Africa’s Greek Orthodox community.
“I am so glad to take part in such an event that is of great importance to the Greek community in Egypt,” commented the musician. As she is aware of the role of culture and art in expanding links between countries, she added: “As a way of deepening the existing relations between Egypt and Greece, I am looking forward to more concerts of my own music, at Egypt’s historic venues, with the collaboration of the Greek and the Egyptian sides.”
Mainly famous in Greece and Turkey, Evanthia Remboutsika is best known for the original soundtrack of the movies “Politiki Kouzina” (called in English “A Touch of Spice”) and “Babam ve Oğlum” (My Father and My Son). At the Belgium city of Ghent, she won the “Discovery of the Year 2006” at the World Soundtrack Awards for the movie “Babam ve Oğlum”.
