Back دير سانت كاترين Arabic دير سانت كاترين ARZ Monesteriu de Santa Catalina del Monte Sinaí AST Müqəddəs Yekaterina monastırı AZ Манастыр Святой Кацярыны BE Синайски манастир Bulgarian Monestir de Santa Caterina del Sinaí Catalan Klášter svaté Kateřiny Czech Mynachlog Santes Catrin CY Sankt Katharinas Kloster Danish

Saint Catherine's Monastery

Saint Catherine's Monastery
General view of Saint Catherine's Monastery, looking down from Mount Sinai
Saint Catherine's Monastery is located in Sinai
Saint Catherine's Monastery
Location within the Sinai Peninsula
Saint Catherine's Monastery is located in Egypt
Saint Catherine's Monastery
Location within Egypt
Monastery information
Full nameSacred Autonomous Royal Monastery of Saint Catherine of the Holy and God-Trodden Mount Sinai
Greek: Ιερά Αυτόνομος Βασιλική Μονή Αγίας Αικατερίνης του Αγίου και Θεοβαδίστου Όρους Σινά
Other namesMonastery of Saint Katherine
Moni tis Agias Aikaterinis
OrderChurch of Sinai
DenominationGreek Orthodox Church
EstablishedAD 565
People
Founder(s)Justinian I
Site
LocationSaint Catherine, South Sinai Governorate, Egypt
CountryEgypt
Coordinates28°33′20″N 33°58′34″E / 28.55556°N 33.97611°E / 28.55556; 33.97611
Visible remainsCatherine of Alexandria
Websitewww.sinaimonastery.com
Official nameSaint Catherine Area
TypeCultural
Criteriai, iii, iv, vi
Designated2002 (26th session)
Reference no.954
RegionArab States

Saint Catherine's Monastery (Arabic: دير القدّيسة كاترين Dayr al-Qiddīsa Katrīn; Greek: Μονὴ τῆς Ἁγίας Αἰκατερίνης), officially the Sacred Autonomous Royal Monastery of Saint Catherine of the Holy and God-Trodden Mount Sinai, is a Christian monastery located in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt. Located at the foot of Mount Sinai, it was built between 548 and 565, and is the world's oldest continuously inhabited Christian monastery.[1][2][3]

The monastery was built by the orders of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I, enclosing what is claimed to be the burning bush seen by Moses.[4][5] Centuries later, the purported body of Saint Catherine of Alexandria, said to have been found in the area, was taken to the monastery; Saint Catherine's relics turned it into an important pilgrimage site, and the monastery was eventually renamed after the saint.

Controlled by the autonomous Church of Sinai, which is part of the wider Greek Orthodox Church, the monastery became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2002 for its unique importance in the traditions of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.[6][7]

The site also holds the world's oldest continually operating library,[8] with unique or extremely rare works, such as the Codex Sinaiticus and the Syriac Sinaiticus,[9][8] as well as possibly the largest collection of early Christian icons, including the earliest known depiction of Jesus as Christ Pantocrator.

Saint Catherine's has as its backdrop the three mountains it lies near: Ras Sufsafeh (possibly the Biblical Mount Horeb, peak c.1 km (0.62 mi) west); Jebel Arrenziyeb, peak c. 1km south; and Mount Sinai (locally, Jebel Musa, by tradition identified with the biblical Mount Sinai; peak c. 2 km (1.2 mi) south).[10]

  1. ^ Din, Mursi Saad El et al.. Sinai: The Site & The History: Essays. New York: New York University Press, 1998. p. 80. ISBN 0814722032
  2. ^ Jules Leroy; Peter Collin (2004). Monks and Monasteries of the Near East. Gorgias Press. pp. 93–94. ISBN 978-1-59333-276-1.
  3. ^ "St Catherine Monastery – The Oldest in the World". KEEP CALM and WANDER. 2016-05-24. Retrieved 2022-04-21.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Georgiou, Aristos (December 20, 2017). "These spectacular ancient texts were lost for centuries, and now they can be viewed online". International Business Times. Archived from the original on July 2, 2018.
  7. ^ "Saint Catherine Area". UNESCO World Heritage Centre. United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  8. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference sinai.library.ucla was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Sebastian P. Brock, Two Hitherto Unattested Passages of the Old Syriac Gospels in Palimpsests from St Catherie's Monastery, Sinai, Δελτίο Βιβλικῶν Μελετῶν 31A, 2016, pp. 7–18.
  10. ^ "Visit Saint Catherine Monastery, Egypt". visitafrica.site. Retrieved 2020-09-25.