Things to do in Red Sea Monasteries
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Monastery of St Paul
St Paul's monastery dates to the 4th century, when it began as a grouping of hermitages in the cliffs of Gebel al-Galala al-Qibliya around the site where St Paul had his hermitage.
Paul, who was born into a wealthy family in Alexandria in the mid-3rd century, originally fled to the Eastern Desert to escape Roman persecution. He lived alone in a cave here for over 90 years, finding bodily sustenance in a nearby spring and palm tree. According to tradition, in AD 343 the then 90-year-old St Anthony had of vision of Paul. After making a difficult trek through the mountains to visit him, Paul died, and was buried by Anthony's hands.
The heart of the monastery complex is the Ch…
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Monastery of St Anthony
This historic monastery traces its origins to the 4th century AD when monks began to settle at the foot of Gebel al-Galala al-Qibliya, where their spiritual leader, Anthony, lived. Over the next few centuries, the community moved from being a loosely organised grouping of hermits to a somewhat more communal existence in which the monks continued to live anchoritic lives, but in cells grouped together inside a walled compound.
In the 8th and 9th centuries, the monastery suffered Bedouin raids, followed in the 11th century by attacks from irate Muslims, and in the 15th century, a revolt by bloodthirsty servants that resulted in the massacre of the monks. The small mud-brick…
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St Anthony’s
The Coptic monastery of St Anthony is open daily throughout the year from 7am to 5pm, except during Advent and Lent, when it can only be visited on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. During Holy Week it is closed completely to visitors. For enquiries or to confirm visiting times, contact the monastery's headquarters: St Anthony’s, located off Clot Bey, south of Midan Ramses in Cairo.
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St Paul’s
The Coptic monastery of St Paul is open daily throughout the year from 8am to 3pm, except during Advent and Lent, when it can only be visited on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. During Holy Week it is closed completely to visitors. For enquiries or to confirm visiting times, contact the monastery’ headquarters: St Paul’s, located off Clot Bey, south of Midan Ramses in Cairo.
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