0 The monastery of st.catherine in Sinai

Introduction :

The Catherine monastery or the Sinai monastery in southern Sinai is considered the third holiest place for pilgrims after Bethlehem and Jerusalem

The Greek orthodox monastery of st. Catherine in Sinai belongs to the Greek Orthodox Church. it stands separate from the orthodox Churches of Egypt .although it is doctrinally very much apart of the Greek Orthodox church  it is separated geographically from the Greek  Orthodox centers it is the smallest independent church in the world .the monks of the monastery of the st.  Catherine once of many different nationalities are today mostly Greek apart from a few Syrians and Armenians .indeed the monastic order of st. Catherine is now open to monks of Greek origin only .

The site :

The Catherine monastery is 6ktr`situated in a quite deserted and inaccessible area in the mountains .it lies at the foot of gebel musa the mountains of Moses (2242m. above the sea level ) .according to Christian tradition mount Sinai is mount horeb of the bible  where Moses received the tablets of the law inscribed with the ten commandments .

The highlights of the history of the monastery:

In times of persecutions of Christians during the 2^nd -3^rd .centuries many monks and hermits found shelter in this area. In 337 ad st. Helena the mother of Constantine the greet is said to have visited the hermits and to have ordered the construction of the chapel of the burning bush on the site where Moses heard the angel of the lord.

At the end of the 4^th century a Spanish nun has provided us with an interesting description of her visit to the chapel of “the holy bush “which was surrounded by a number of cells of anchorites. In 573 ad the emperor Justinian (527-565  ad) built a fortified monastery as well as a church which dedicated to the holy virgin Mary .

Between 548-565 ad Justinian ordered the construction of the church of the transfiguration to the memory of Empress Theodora.

After the Arab conquest Egypt it is said that the prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him ) granted a fireman to the monks of Sinai where by their lives and property was to be respected by the Muslim rulers . A copy of this document is exhibited at the monastery .however it seems very likely that the monks of Sinai had special protected them as well as their property and their library. Only thus can one explain the monumental collection of ancient treasures documents and books.

During the crusades the Sinai monastery was a highly respected place for pilgrims thousands of pilgrims from all over Europe went to Sinai as part of their holy land pilgrimages.

Throughout the middle ages kings and princely houses showed a greet interest for the monastery. Which resulted in valuable gifts of greet artistic value among those on can mention Charles v1 of France other heads of state who donated liberally to the monks included Isabel. Queen of Spain maximilian emperor of Germany louisxiv king of France.

At the time of the French expedition to Egypt in 1798 napoleon Bonaparte gave orders to repair the old walls .