SAINT CATHERINE’S MONASTERY
The monastery of St. Catherine is the oldest active Christian monastery in the world, located on the Sinai Peninsula at an altitude of 1570 meters, at the foot of Mount Sinai. It is named after Saint Catherine, who was martyred for preaching the Christian faith.
The mother of Emperor Constantine, Saint Helena, at the request of the monks, in 324 ordered the construction of a small chapel on this site – a chapel, around which a monastery eventually settled down, which was called the “Monastery of the Burning Bush”. Since the monastery was often raided by nomadic tribes, the Byzantine emperor Justinian I in 537 transformed this monastery into a real fortress. High fortress walls with loopholes were erected around the monastery, and inside, in addition to the monks, there was a military garrison defending the holy place. In this form, the monastery-fortress has survived to our time.
The Monastery of St. Catherine in Egypt is popular not only with pilgrims of Christianity, Buddhism and Judaism, but also with ordinary tourists who want to get to know and touch the centuries-old religious relics.
Not only the relics attract tourists. You will get to see the monastery library and the chapel building. The Church of St. Catherine itself has a magnificent decoration of marble, mosaics. Seeing this magnificence, it is impossible not to admire. Behind the altar you will see the oldest monastery buildings, dating back to the history of the 4th century.
On the territory of the sanctuary there is a huge library of old manuscripts (the second most important after the Vatican), a beautiful garden, twelve chapels, a unique collection of Christian icons, ancient bells, church utensils. Many items have invaluable historical and artistic value. There is also a mosque built in the 10th century.
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