Excursion to St. Catherine’s Monastery from Sharm El Sheikh

Tour Details:

We will pick you up at your hotel in Sharm El Sheikh early in the morning; You will recognize our driver by the sign with your name in his hands.

He will take you to  the Monastery of St. Catherine, which is located at the foot of Mount Sinai, where, according to legend, Moses saw a thorn bush that did not burn. The monastery is considered one of the oldest in the world, as the first mention of monasticism here dates back to the 4th century AD. St. Helena, the mother of Constantine I, the first Roman emperor to convert to Christianity, ordered the construction of a chapel on the site of the Burning Bush in the early 4th century AD. Monastery,  in the form that has survived to this day, it was built by Emperor Justinian I in the 6th century AD to protect the monks. For centuries, the monastery was not attacked from the Muslim side, as it enlisted the patronage of the Prophet Muhammad. It is for this reason that you will be able to see not only  the buildings, walls and decorations almost in their original form, but also countless valuables that have been preserved to this day and are a true historical heritage. The library, with its unique huge collection of ancient manuscripts and manuscripts, is second only to the library in the Vatican!

In the monastery you will see the world’s largest collection of antique icons, which survived the times of Byzantine iconoclasm, but, however, some of the icons of the early period were destroyed. Also in the courtyard you will see a bush that is considered the Burning Bush.

The monastery is still inhabited by monks and has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2002.

Remember, it is forbidden for women to be on the territory of the monastery with their heads uncovered, their shoulders bare, their arms and legs bare.

After visiting the monastery, you will have a delicious lunch at one of the restaurants in Dahab, after which you can take a short sightseeing tour of the city before we take you back to your hotel in Sharm El Sheikh.