The Copts pride themselves on the apostolicity of their national church . whose founder was St . Mark (martyred during Nero's reign [54-68 A . D . ] , in 68) one of the four Evangelists and the author of the oldest canonical Gospel used by St . Matthew and St . Luke , probably also St . John .
Saint Mark
is regarded by the Coptic hierarchy as the first in their unbroken chain of 116 patriarchs . He is also the first of a stream of Egyptian saints and glorious martyrs . The History of the Patriarchs of the Coptic Church of
Alexandria
compiled in Arabic from ancient Coptic sources and continued by Sawiris ibn al-Muqaffa , bishop of al-Ashmunain in Middle Egypt , begins with an elaborate biography of the Evangelist and first patriarch . The martyrdom of St . Mark was in fact a spontaneous act of violence committed by the enraged pagan populace . The belieevers took his body and buried it in the Church of Bucalia , which is situated along the coasts of Alexandria . This was the first church founded in Egypt ,
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Related geoplaces
-Cathedral of San Mark
-Saint Mark Church