Saint Cathrine
Saint Catherine
| Orthodox monastery located on the slopes of Mount St. Catherine, in the south of the Sinai Peninsula, in Egypt. Located at 1,570 m above sea level, it is one of the oldest monasteries in the world still in use. Its land (enclosure and adjoining gardens) constitutes the Orthodox Archdiocese of Sinai, canonically linked to the Patriarchate of Jerusalem. It houses a precious collection of icons and the second library of ancient manuscripts in the world after that of the Vatican. It has about twenty monks, of Greek origin for the most part. The main recruiting center for novices with the “vocation of the desert” is the metochion (dependence) that the Sainte-Catherine monastery owns in rue Dorylaiou, in Ambélokipi, district of Athens. |  |
| The Sainte-Catherine monastery of the Sinai is registered in the list of the World heritage of humanity established by UNESCO since 2002. Only a small part of the monastery can be visited, but the many traditions associated with it (Burning bush, "well of Moses", Mount Sinai) attract many pilgrims and tourists. Faced with this influx, the hotel city of Sainte Catherine developed nearby |