Saint Catherine Monastery, Greek Orthodox monastery in South Sinai Governorate, Egypt
Saint Catherine's Monastery is a walled complex built between 548 and 565 under Justinian I at the foot of Mount Sinai. Its granite walls enclose the Chapel of the Burning Bush, a sixth-century basilica with a king-post roof truss, a Fatimid mosque from 1106, and the Well of Moses, still a water source.
Empress Helena, mother of Constantine I, had a chapel built at the burning bush around 329. Emperor Justinian I replaced it between 548 and 565 with the fortified monastery, settling 200 families from Pontus and Alexandria to guard it; their descendants form the Jabaliya tribe. A Fatimid mosque was added in 1106.
Mount Sinai rises directly behind the walls, and many visitors take the steep climb to its summit to experience sunrise over the desert. Monks continue living within the compound following long-established routines, tending gardens and conducting services in the chapels.
Visitors reach the complex through organized tours that typically begin in the morning and involve a drive of roughly two and a half hours through the desert. Those planning to climb the mountain should start well before sunrise to complete the ascent in time.
The library houses over three thousand ancient manuscripts, including texts in Greek, Arabic, Syriac, Georgian, and Slavonic languages. It ranks as the oldest continuously operating library in the world, second only to the Vatican in its collection of religious texts.
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