ST CATHERINE’S MONASTERY
A community of Greek orthodox monks has lived here, in the shadow of Mount Sinai, almost uninterruptedly since the monastery was founded in AD 527 by Byzantine emperor Justinian. It replaced a chapel built in 337 by St Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine, at the place where tradition says that Moses saw the Burning Bush. The monastery was named after St Catherine only in the 9th or 10th century, after monks claimed to have found her body on nearby Mount Catherine.
- Sinai, 90 km (56 miles) W of Dahab and Nuweiba.
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10 km (6 miles) NE of monastery.
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from Taba, Nuweiba or Dahab to St Catherine’s Village (El-Milga), then taxi 3.5 km (2 miles). Petrol available at monastery.
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9am–noon Mon–Thu, Sat.
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Greek Orthodox hols.
- Admission free, but offerings welcome.
St Stephen’s Well
Dispensary
The Mosque was created in 1106 by converting a chapel originally dedicated to St Basil.
Guest house
Monks’ quarters
The elevated entrance , reached by a pulley system, used to be the only access.
The underground cistern was dug to store fresh water from the monastery’s springs.
Visitors’ entrance
The Chapel of the Burning Bush stands where it is claimed the miraculous bush seen by Moses originally grew.
Round Tower
The Walls of Justinian , built in the first half of the 6th century, are part of the complex’s original structure.
Bell Tower
This was built in 1871. The nine bells were donated by Tsar Alexander II of Russia and are nowadays rung only on major religious festivals.
St Catherine is one of the most popular of early Christian female saints. Her legend, not recorded before the 10th century, recounts that she was a virgin of noble birth, martyred in Alexandria in the early 4th century. After being tortured on a spiked wheel (hence the Catherine wheel), she was beheaded. Her body was then transported by angels to Sinai, where it was found, uncorrupted, some six centuries later by the local monks.
Fortified by massive curtain walls, the monastery lies at the head of Wadi el-Deir (Valley of the Monastery), surrounded by high, red granite mountains. It is inhabited by about 20 Greek Orthodox monks, who follow the rule of St Basil, and the only buildings normally open to visitors are the Basilica and the Charnel House. Despite this and the constant crowds of pilgrims and tourists, the remote location in the heart of Sinai and spectacular, rugged scenery are awe-inspiring. For the reasonably fit, there are well-marked paths to the top of Mount Sinai and other nearby peaks.
Entry nowadays is through a small postern in the curtain wall, whose impressive thickness varies from 1.8–2.7 m (6–9 ft). Some sections of wall survive from the monastery’s origins in the 6th century, but large-scale rebuilding took place in the 14th century, after an earthquake, and in 1800, on Napoleon’s orders.
The monastery’s Basilica was built in AD 527 with three aisles in typical Byzantine style. Eleventh-century, carved wooden doors open into the narthex (porch), where some of the monastery’s splendid icons, all painted on wood, are displayed. The collection is exceptional for its size and quality, and because it contains the only examples of Byzantine painting to have survived the Iconoclast era (726–843). Among them are a St Peter (5th–6th century), a Christ in Majesty (7th century), both in encaustic painting, and the Ladder of Paradise (7th century).
Carved cedar doors, made in the 6th century, lead into the central nave, which contains 12 columns topped by grey granite capitals and hung with icons showing the saints of the months of the year. The marble floor and coffered ceiling are 18th century. The iconostasis, dating from 1612, is by a Cretan monk, Jeremiah the Sinaite. The large figures represent Christ, the Virgin Mary and Saints Michael, Nicholas, Catherine and John the Baptist. Behind it can be glimpsed the exceptionally beautiful 6th-century Mosaic of the Transfiguration decorating the roof of the apse. It shows Christ surrounded by Elijah, Moses and the Disciples John, Peter and James. In the apse, (often closed), on the right, is a marble coffin containing the remains of St Catherine.
The Chapel of the Burning Bush, behind the apse and also usually closed to the public, is the holiest part of the monastery. It was built on the site where God is thought to have appeared to Moses for the first time (Exodus 3: 2–4). Tradition says that the bush itself was moved outside when the chapel was built.
The library has over 3,000 manuscripts in Greek, Coptic, Syriac, Arabic, Georgian, Armenian and Old Slavonic. The oldest is the 5th-century Codex Syriacus , one of the earliest existing copies of the Gospels.
St Catherine’s has, uniquely for a Christian monastery, a mosque within its walls. It was built for the Bedouin who worked in the monastery and also as a way of avoiding attacks by the Muslims.
In the gardens are the monks’ cemetery and the Chapel of St Triphonius. The latter’s crypt holds the Charnel House containing the bones of deceased monks. The robed skeleton is that of Stephanos, a 6th-century guardian of the path to Mount Sinai.
