St Catherine’s Monastery, Sinai

At the foot of Mount Sinai, behind granite walls built for the emperor Justinian in the sixth century, St Catherine’s is the oldest Christian monastery still used for its original purpose. Greek Orthodox monks have kept it for nearly fifteen centuries. It holds a bramble venerated as the Burning Bush, a Byzantine mosaic of the Transfiguration and one of the great libraries of the early Church. Most visitors come after a night climb of the mountain, and the gates open only for a few hours on most mornings.

A monastery at the foot of the mountain

The Bible places the Burning Bush and the giving of the Law on Mount Sinai, and Christian hermits were living in these valleys by the fourth century. Between about 548 and 565 Justinian enclosed their chapel of the Burning Bush within a fortress, and built the basilica that still stands at its heart. The monastery was later named after St Catherine of Alexandria, whose remains, by tradition, were found on the mountain that bears her name.

It survived because it was never sacked, and because the Byzantine destruction of images never reached it, its collection of early icons is often called the finest in the world. A chapel inside the walls was turned into a small mosque in the Fatimid period and is still used on special occasions. The monastery is part of the Saint Catherine Area UNESCO World Heritage Site and is sacred to Jews, Christians and Muslims alike.

The visitor’s cheat sheet

What to see

Visitors follow a fixed route that begins at the gate in the north wall. Guided tours are not allowed inside, so tour guides brief their groups outside the walls.

The Burning Bush

The bramble grows in a courtyard just behind the basilica, raised and walled in to stop pilgrims taking cuttings. The chapel built over its roots, behind the apse, is closed to visitors.

The basilica

Justinian’s church of the Transfiguration is entered through a carved wooden door. Inside, granite columns, hanging lamps and a gilded iconostasis of 1612 lead the eye to the apse and its sixth-century mosaic of the Transfiguration, one of the most important to survive from the Byzantine world. From the nave you see only part of it, between the lamps and the iconostasis. Above the later ceiling, out of sight, its timber roof trusses are thought to be the oldest surviving in the world.

The bell tower and the mosque

Opposite the basilica, the minaret of the Fatimid mosque rises beside the church’s nineteenth-century bell tower, two faiths sharing one walled courtyard.

The Well of Moses

Inside the walls is the well where, by tradition, Moses met Zipporah, the daughter of Jethro. It is still one of the monastery’s sources of water.

The Sacred Sacristy and the library

Up a stair beside the basilica, the Sacred Sacristy shows a small part of the monastery’s treasures: icons, including the twelfth-century Ladder of Divine Ascent, manuscripts and liturgical silver. The library itself, with thousands of manuscripts, is not open to visitors. Its most famous book, the fourth-century Codex Sinaiticus, left for Russia in the nineteenth century, and most of it is now in the British Library.

Climbing Mount Sinai

Mount Sinai (Jebel Musa) rises to about 2,285 metres just south of the monastery, with a small chapel and a mosque, both usually locked, on the summit. Most visitors climb in the dark to see the sunrise, then come down to the monastery as it opens.

A Bedouin guide is compulsory, and is hired at the car park by the monastery. There are two ways up. The Camel Path is longer but gradual, and camels can carry you most of the way. The Steps of Repentance are far steeper: about 3,000 rough steps to the hollow known as Elijah’s Basin. Both routes meet there for the final 750 or so steps to the top. Go up by the Camel Path in the dark, and come down the steps in daylight.

It is cold and windy on the summit even in summer, and snow is possible in winter. Bring warm layers, a head torch and water; tea stalls and blanket hire are found along the way and at the top, and there are composting toilets at Elijah’s Basin.

Getting there

The monastery is in the mountains of South Sinai, beside the small town of Saint Catherine. The nearest airport with flights is Sharm el-Sheikh, about 2½ to 3 hours away by road; Dahab is about 2 hours away, and Cairo about 6 hours by car. There is no public bus from the coast, so almost everyone comes with a tour, a private driver or a taxi. Expect several police checkpoints on the way, and carry your passport and visa.

Night-climb tours from Sharm and Dahab usually leave at about 10pm, start up the mountain in the small hours and visit the monastery after the descent. The monastery’s own guesthouse stands just below the walls, and there are more hotels in the town.

Don’t miss

• The Burning Bush Behind the basilica.
• The Transfiguration mosaic Sixth-century gold in the apse.
• The Sacred Sacristy Early icons and manuscripts.
• Sunrise on Mount Sinai Then down to the monastery.
• The mosque and the bell tower Side by side inside the walls.

Insider tips

More churches nearby

• Church of the Holy Sepulchre — Calvary and the Tomb, Jerusalem.
• Church of the Nativity — Justinian’s other great basilica, Bethlehem.
• Mount Athos — another Orthodox mountain of monks.

See all the Egyptian churches in this guide →