Saint Catherine City, with its distinct character, is located 300 kilometres from the Suez Canal in South Sinai Governorate at an elevation of 1,600 metres above sea level.
It is surrounded by some mountains, including Mount Catherine, Mount Moses, and Mount Safsafa, the highest mountains in Egypt.
At the foot of Mount Catherine and beside Wadi Al-Raha, the monastery was built by Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine, in 432 AD.
Its construction was completed during the reign of Emperor Justinian in 545 AD. It is attributed to Saint Catherine, who was believed to have converted 50 scholars, and the emperor tortured and beheaded her.
Saint Catherine's Monastery's official website indicates that the monastery initially had several names. It was supposed to be named after Prophet Moses, as God spoke to him in that location, but it was later called "The Transfiguration."
After that, its name changed to the Monastery of the Virgin Mary, one of the world's oldest monasteries.
The monastery is bordered on the west by Wadi Al-Raha and consists of several buildings surrounded by a massive granite wall, with four corner towers that range in height from 12 to 15 metres. Its dimensions are 117, 80, 77, and 76 metres.
Notably, the monastery, inhabited by monks of the Greek Orthodox Church, has never been destroyed throughout its history and has preserved the distinctive traits of its Greek and Roman heritage.
Main Church (The Transfiguration)
The church, located in the northern section of the monastery, was built in 527 AD during the reign of Emperor Justinian, in the form of a Roman basilica.
Its door is made of carved wood, and inside are 12 columns representing the months of the year. On each side, there is an altar named after a saint.
Its ceiling has ancient inscriptions like: “For the greeting of our exalted king, the great Justinian ... O Lord, who manifested in this place, preserve and have mercy on your servant ‘Atien’ and the builder of this monastery ‘Elysios’ (Elisha) and ‘Nuna.’”
At the forefront of the church is a semi-circular apse resembling a dome, adorned with some of the world's most famous Christian mosaics. They depict scenes from both the Old and New Testaments.
The main scene shows Christ in the centre, with Virgin Mary on His right and Moses and Peter reclining at His feet.
On the wall are two additional scenes: one depicting Moses receiving the Law on top of Mount Sinai, and the other showing Moses kneeling before the bush as God's hand reached out to him from the flames above.
Photo courtesy of Saint Catherine's Monastery website.
Below the dome lies a casket containing the remains of Saint Catherine, in two silver boxes.
One box contains her skull, adorned with a gold crown set with precious stones, while the other contains her hand, decorated with golden rings and precious gems.
On the other side are two large silver boxes bearing an image of Saint Catherine, housing valuable gifts from kings to the monastery.
One hundred fifty icons are hanging on the walls of the church, part of a collection of 2,000 icons owned by the monastery.
The icons are of historical significance, some of which are rare, dating back to the sixth century and some to the early Byzantine era, with several chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.
The Church of the Burning Bush (Al-Aliqa)
Situated behind the main church next to the sacred burning bush, where Prophet Moses saw the fire, and the shrine of Prophet Aaron, which Empress Helena built.
This plant grows only in this area and holds a special religious significance; it is evergreen. They built a wall around the bush to preserve it.
The Church of the Dead
It is a chamber for storing the skulls of the deceased, where skulls are stacked atop each other.
The monastery has only six graves specifically for the monks and archbishops.
The Library
The library, located on the third floor of an ancient building south of the main church, consists of three rooms in a row and contains 6,000 rare manuscripts on historical, geographical, and philosophical topics. These include the "Codex Sinaiticus" or the "Greek Torah," an incomplete copy written in 331 AD by Eusebius, the bishop of Caesarea.
In addition to documents and decrees granted by caliphs and rulers to the monastery, approximately 2,000 documents are known to exist.
The most important of these is the prophetic covenant sent by Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) to the monks living in the monastery among the mountains of Sinai on the 3rd of Muharram in the second year of Hijra, corresponding to 623 AD, in response to their request for protection.
"It was signed by 21 companions as witnesses and written by Ali Ibn Abi Talib on deer skin, stipulating the following: "No bishop should change his bishopric, nor a monk from his monasticism, nor an anchorite from his retreat, nor a Sayeh (Sufi traveller) from his travels. None of their churches or convents should be demolished, nor should anything from their churches be used in the construction of a mosque or houses of Muslims."
"Whoever does any of this has broken the covenant of God and disobeyed His Messenger. Monks, bishops, and worshippers should not be levied any taxes or fines, and I will protect their obligations wherever they are, whether on land or sea, in the east or west, north or south. They are under my protection, my covenant, and my assurances from any harm," it adds.
Sultan Selim I confirmed the monastery's privileges upon entering Egypt, but he took the original protection letter for safekeeping in the royal treasury in Constantinople.
At the same time, the monastery was given authenticated copies of this document, sealed with the Messenger's seal as a sign of contact with the original.
Inside the monastery walls, there is a small mosque dating back to the Fatimid era, known as the Mosque of Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah. It was built of mud and granite stone in 1106 AD and is located 10 metres from the main church.
A small church was also built on Mount Moses, along with an olive oil press, an ancient food store, a water well, and a series of gardens with trees and flowers on the northwestern side, outside the wall.
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