Aswan, Egypt
Monastery at the west bank of Aswan, Egypt
On a desert ridge on Aswan's West Bank, south of the Tombs of the Nobles and facing Elephantine, stand the ruins of the Monastery of St Simeon, one of the oldest and largest Coptic monasteries. Its original name was the Monastery of Anba Hadra; it dates to the 6th or 7th century, was rebuilt in the 10th, and for centuries was one of the leading monasteries of southern Egypt as Christianity spread through the Nubian kingdoms. A wall nearly ten metres high encloses it like a fortress. At its height it housed some three hundred monks and could host a hundred pilgrims at once. You walk through the church, with its fallen domes and traces of wall paintings of Christ and the saints, then the monks' cells with their stone benches, the kitchens, bakeries, oil press and the guest rooms upstairs, and get a real picture of a whole community living on the edge of the desert. The monastery was abandoned in the Middle Ages and never reused, but the dry climate has kept its mud-brick and stone buildings in fair condition.
Take a boat to the West Bank, then walk about thirty minutes uphill through sand from the Tombs of the Nobles, or go by camel. Go in the morning before the heat, with water and a hat. Allow an hour on site. It is a place of religious heritage, so visit quietly and respectfully.
Hours and prices change — check before you go. Source: ar.wikipedia.org
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AttractionAswan, Egypt
