Saint Catherine's Monastery

Greek Orthodox monastery at the foot of Mount Sinai, Egypt

Saint Catherine's Monastery (Arabic: دير القدّيسة كاترين‎; Greek: Μονὴ τῆς Ἁγίας Αἰκατερίνης), officially "Sacred Monastery of the God-Trodden Mount Sinai" (Greek: Ιερά Μονή του Θεοβαδίστου Όρους Σινά), is an Eastern Orthodox monastery located on the Sinai Peninsula, at the mouth of a gorge at the foot of Mount Sinai, near the town of Saint Catherine, Egypt. The monastery is named after Catherine of Alexandria.

The monastery is controlled by the autonomous Church of Sinai, part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Built between 548 and 565, the monastery is one of the oldest working Christian monasteries in the world. The site contains the world's oldest continually operating library, possessing many unique books including the Syriac Sinaiticus and, until 1859, the Codex Sinaiticus.

Christian traditions

During her imprisonment more than 200 people came to see her, including Maxentius' wife, Valeria Maximilla; all converted to Christianity and were subsequently martyred. The furious emperor condemned Catherine to death on a spiked breaking wheel, but, at her touch, it shattered. Maxentius ordered her to be beheaded. Catherine herself ordered the execution to commence. A milk-like substance rather than blood flowed from her neck.

Although it is commonly known as Saint Catherine's, the monastery's full official name is the Sacred Monastery of the God-Trodden Mount Sinai.[citation needed] The patronal feast of the monastery is the Feast of the Transfiguration. The monastery has become a favorite site of pilgrimage.[citation needed]

History

1899 map of the monastery surroundings2011 photo from the north of the monastery, facing southwardsThe monastery is located in the shadow of a group of three mountains – Ras Sufsafeh / "Mount Horeb" (peak c.1km west), Jebel Arrenziyeb (peak c.1km south) and Jebel Musa / "Biblical Mount Sinai" (peak c.2km south) Saint Catherine's Monastery, 1968Saint Catherine's monastery by Leavitt Hunt, 1852

The oldest record of monastic life at Sinai...