Baucalis, also called Boukolou, and Baukalis, is a section in

Alexandria, Egypt Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

where St. Mark was reported to have been martyred, along with the historic location of his martyrium. It is also where

Arius Arius (; ; 250 or 256 – 336) was a Cyrenaica, Cyrenaic presbyter and asceticism, ascetic. He has been regarded as the founder of Arianism, which holds that Jesus Christ was not Eternity, coeternal with God the Father, but was rather created b ...

(Greek: Ἄρειος, AD 250 or 256–336) was a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

presbyter and priest.

Coptic Church The Coptic Orthodox Church (), also known as the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, is an Oriental Orthodox Churches, Oriental Orthodox Christian church based in Egypt. The head of the church and the Apostolic see, See of Alexandria i ...

tradition holds that the city of

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

was evangelized for the first time by St. Mark. The first Christians there built a church for Mark at Baucalis. According to tradition, St. Mark was attacked by a crowd of pagans on Easter Sunday 68 AD in the Church at Baucalis, dragged through the streets and martyred. His followers were able to save his body and place it in a tomb under the altar of the church. The ''Acts of St. Mark'' report that the church of Baucalis was "built in the area beside the sea under the crags called 'Boukolou'." There is some indication that the church was built on the site of an earlier shrine to

Serapis Serapis or Sarapis is a Egyptian Greeks, Graeco-Egyptian god. A Religious syncretism, syncretic deity derived from the worship of the Egyptian Osiris and Apis (deity), Apis, Serapis was extensively popularized in the third century BC on the ord ...

. Coptic tradition also tells that his body was still at Baucalis as late as 311 AD, when Pope Peter of Alexandria was martyred at the same site. According to the ''Martyrdom of St. Peter'' (''Acta'' or ''Passio Sancti Petri''), the tribunes who would later have him beheaded allowed him to first visit the tomb of St. Mark at "the place called Boukolou." He prayed to St. Mark for his intercession, that he might be martyred joyously. After exiting the tomb, the tribunes beheaded him in an area just south of Mark's martyrium. Later, Patriarchs of Alexandria were elected at the Church of Baucalis, as the oldest church in the city. The original church of Baucalis was abandoned around the fifth century, and its exact historic location is unknown. Some speculation centers on the area around the current location of the 1920s era College of St. Mark.

, son of Ammonius, was a popular priest appointed presbyter for the district of Baucalis in 313. After his condemnation in 321, Arius withdrew to

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

with the support of

Eusebius of Caesarea Eusebius of Caesarea (30 May AD 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilius, was a historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian polemicist from the Roman province of Syria Palaestina. In about AD 314 he became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima. ...

.CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Arius
Retrieved 17 January 2013.

References

{{coord missing, Egypt Neighbourhoods of Alexandria