Saint Catherine's Monastery

St. Catherine's Monastery is located at the foot of Moses Mountain on the Sinai Peninsula on the east-west traffic route, that is, at the foot of Mount Moses. It was built by monks who took refuge in Sinai from the 4th to the 6th century to commemorate the girl Catherine who devoted herself to the faith. The Sinai Peninsula has always been a battleground for military strategists. Since the 6th century AD, Sinai has suffered several wars, but St. Catherine's Monastery has remained intact. During the rule of the Ottoman Empire, Napoleon's invasion, and even the Israeli occupation, the monastery was not damaged and became one of the most prestigious monasteries in the area. The size of the monastery is very large, and it looks like an ancient city from the outside. The main church of the monastery is a rectangular limestone building. The wooden door at the entrance of the church is made of Lebanese cedar. There are reliefs of animals, flowers and leaves on the door, which is a masterpiece of a Byzantine artist. In addition to the main church, the monastery also preserves many precious cultural relics, such as a collection of 2,000 holy paintings, including nearly 3,000 manuscripts in 12 languages including Greek, Turkish, Persian, Latin, Armenian, and Coptic. Among them, there are rare and ancient translations of the "Bible" - the "Torah" in ancient Syriac in the 5th century AD, the edicts and decrees issued by the ancient caliphs and sultans to the monasteries.