Saint Catherine's Monastery

Saint Catherine's Monastery is also known as St. Helena's Chapel. The official name is a serious mouthful “Sacred and Imperial Monastery of the God-Trodden Mount of Sinai”. It is located on the Sinai Peninsula, at the entrance to an inaccessible gorge located at the foot of Mount Mousa (or Jebel Mousa). This spot is thought by many to be the biblical Mount Sinai (where Moses received the Ten Commandments from God). The monastery is Greek Orthodox and claims to be the oldest working Christian monastery in the world (although the monks of the Monastery of Saint Anthony near Cairo would dispute that). The site is sacred to Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

The Monastery was built by Emperor Justinian I between 527AD and 565AD around the Chapel of the Burning Bush which was commissioned by Helena (the mother of Emperor Constantine I) to mark the spot where Moses is supposed to have seen the burning bush. According to some, the bush within the grounds of the Chapel is the original burning bush. The popular name of the monastery refers to Saint Catherine of Alexandria. She was a Christian martyr who was sentenced to die by being broken on the wheel but survived this ordeal and was eventually beheaded. According to legend, angels carried her remains to Mount Sinai where they were found hundreds of years later. Her relics are now kept in a marble reliquary in the monastery.

Saint Catherine's Monastery is surrounded by massive granite fortifications which protected the buildings, the artworks and the library. The main church within the walls is the Basilica of the Transfiguration built by the Byzantines.  The site also houses the oldest library in the Christian world and the second largest collection of early codices and manuscripts in the world (outnumbered only by the Vatican Library). The library even holds a document, signed by Muhammad himself which confirms that the site is protected by Allah. There is a beautiful garden, and a Fatimid mosque within the monastery walls which was built on the ruins of a crusader chapel but it has never been used because it is not correctly aligned to Mecca. You can also see the Well of Moses and the crypt beneath the Chapel of St. Triphone (also known as the Skull House) which houses the bones of deceased monks.

Some organised trips offer you the opportunity to climb to the top of Mount Sinai to watch the sunrise. If you don’t fancy the hike then there is the option of riding a camel until you are close to the summit. However, be warned, travelling by camel can also be tiring and sore! The climb takes up to three hours for an inexperienced climber but can be completed in around an hour and a half if you are pretty fit. Walking groups often leave at around 2.30am to catch the sunrise. Although it is a fairly strenuous climb the views are incredible. The Chapel of the Holy Trinity (built in 1934 from the ruins of the chapel built by Emperor Justinian) sits at the top of the mountain, but it is not open to visitors. There is also a small mosque and a cave in which it is said Moses sat while he waited to receive the Ten Commandments. For religious people this is a place that demands a visit.