Wednesday 24/Sep/2025 – 08:18 AM
South Sinai Governorate is the land of religions, gathering places and holy places on the three divine religions, as it is called the land of history and prophets, and it has many religious sanctities, and the oldest monasteries in the world, including the Monastery of Jabal Sinai.
Hossam Sobhi, Director of Saint Catherine Antiquities, confirmed to Cairo 24 that the Monastery of Mount Sinai in South Sinai Governorate is located below Mount Catherine, near Jabal Musa, and is said to be the oldest monastery in the world.
Monastery of Mount Sinai in the world .. It is managed by the bishop of Sinai and is not subject to any sacred complex
Sobhi explained that the Monastery of Jabal Sinai is a great tourist attraction, as it is intended for tourist groups from all parts of the world, and he is retired, managed by the head of the monastery, who is the bishop of Sinai, who is not subject to the authority of any patriarch or a holy complex, but he has strong relations with the Patriarch of Jerusalem, so the name of the Patriarch of Jerusalem is mentioned in the masses, although the guardianship of the monastery was for long periods of the Russian Church, The monks and priests of the monastery are from the Greeks, not Arabs or Egyptians, like the bishops of the Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem, which is controlled by the Greeks of long periods.
He stated that the bishop of Sinai runs alongside the monastery churches and holy shrines in South Sinai, in the Al -Tor area, Firan and Al -Tarfa Oasis.
He revealed that the monastery was built by Empress Helen, the mother of Emperor Constantine, but Emperor Justinian was the one who actually built it in 545, to contain the remains of Saint Catherine who lived in Alexandria.
He pointed out that the Monastery of Mount Sinai contains a historical church with gifts from the kings and princes of many countries, including chandeliers of silver and a well they say that it is a well of Moses, as it was built around a tree that is said to be the tree of Moses in which the fire caught the fire, and Moses guided to him to speak to his Lord, and they say about it that attempts to cultivate it outside the monastery were made, but it was unsuccessful and that it does not grow anywhere.
