St. Anthony's Monastery

The Monastery of St. Anthony is a sacred monument dating back to the 4th century AD when monks began to settle at the foot of Gebel Al Galala Al Ciblia, where their spiritual leader lived.

Today, the monastery is a large complex, with several churches a lush garden. 120 monks dedicated their lives to seeking God in silence, in a life entirely built on prayer.

The Church of St. Anthony is built over the tomb of the saint and contains one of the most significant collections of wall paintings of Egypt, most of them dating from the early 13th century. Without centuries of mud and soot, the paintings demonstrate how medieval Egyptian art was connected to the art of Byzantium and the Islamic eastern Mediterranean. In the 8th and 9th centuries, the monastery was raided by Bedouins, followed in the 11th century by attacks by angry Muslims, and in the 15th century a revolt by bloodthirsty servants led to the slaughter of monks. From the top of the walls there is a beautiful view of the small citadel of mud brick, into which the monks retreated during these attacks.

You can also see the impressive manicured gardens of monks. They are fed by a spring that originates deep under desert mountains. The monastery is located 290 km south of Cairo in the north of the Red Sea Governorate in the area of the Al-Galal Highlands of the Arabian Desert.