Saint Catherine's Monastery

Saint Catherine’s Monastery

IN SINAI / 11 months
November 7, 2023
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2 min read

The Holy Monastery of Saint Catherines is one of the oldest operating monasteries in the world. The Byzantine emperor Justinian I ordered its construction in 548-565 AD to house the monks who had lived in the Sinai Peninsula since the fourth century AD. The monastery, built by the Emperor of the Roman Empire in 527 AD, sits on the slopes of Mount Sinai, where Moses received the Ten Commandments from God.

On the slopes of Mount Sinai, where Moses received the Ten Commandments from God, lies one of the oldest operating monasteries in the world. Known as the Monastery of Saint Catherine's, its actual name is the "Holy Monastery of God of Mount Sinai". It was built by order of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I (527-565 AD) in 548-565 AD to house monks who had been living in the Sinai Peninsula since the fourth century AD.

Death of Saint Catherine

Saint Catherine’s was martyred in the early fourth century AD as the monastery bears her name for her monks discovering her body near Mount Saint Catherine in the ninth century AD, where it was placed by angels after her martyrdom.

The monastery includes;

multiple structures, the most important of which is the Church of the Transfiguration of Christ the Savior, which in itself includes nine smaller churches. One of these churches is the burned church where God spoke to the prophet Moses. Saint Catherine’s Monastery also includes ten other churches, monks’ accommodation, a refectory hall, an olive press, bone boxes for the dead, a twelfth-century Fatimid mosque, a library with rare books and 6000,<> manuscripts.