Catherine's Monastery (Sinai) - Katharinenkloster (Sinai)

The Katharinenkloster
Catherine's Monastery · ‏دير سانت كاترين‎
GovernorateSouth Sinai
height
1,570 m
Tourist information Tel 20 (0)69 347 0353 (Guest house of the monastery)
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location
Location map of the Sinai in Egypt
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Catherine's Monastery

The Greek Orthodox Catherine's Monastery, Arabic:دير سانت كاترين‎, Dair Sānt Kāt (a) rīn, located in the center of the Sinai two kilometers north of the Moses Mountain. The oldest still inhabited monastery in Christendom is one of the most important monasteries in the country and has been one since 2002 EgyptUnesco world heritage sites.

background

Site plan of the monastery and village

history

The square is one of the most legendary of the Jews and Christians: this is where the Burning bush (Ex 2,23–4,18 EU) on which God revealed himself to Moses.

In its place, the monastery originally dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Transfiguration of Christ was built, which claims to be the oldest in which services have been held regularly since its foundation. The community has existed since the beginning of the 4th century. In the annals of the patriarch Eutychios of Alexandria from the 9th century it is described that in the year 324 empress Helena visited the local monks and is said to have donated a church and a protective tower to them. What is certain is that the nun Etheria (Egeria) from Gaul visited the monastery towards the end of the 4th century, as can be seen from her diary.[1]

The monastery received its form, which still exists today, between 548 and 564, when the Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I. had the fortress built here at the request of the monks. Justinian also had a mercenary force stationed to protect the monastery. The master builder of the monastery, probably Stephanos von Aila (Eilat), who was immortalized in an inscription in the roof of the monastery church, suffered the displeasure of his builder because of the unsuitable choice of the building site directly in front of a valley wall and was therefore beheaded.[2] The main church of the monastery dates from the same time. However, some of the monks continued to live as hermits in the neighborhood.

Letter of protection for the monastery attributed to the Prophet Mohammed

After the bones of St. Catherine of Alexandria on the Gebel Katarīn found and brought to the monastery, it was given its current name Katharinenkloster. The saint is one of the most popular saints in the Catholic Church. She is said to have been a Cypriot king's daughter who was born in Alexandria around 282 AD. She was led to the Christian faith by a hermit. Since she did not renounce Christianity and refused the office of empress, the Roman emperor left Maxentius (Reigns 306-312) torture and behead them.

It is reported that the later Prophet Mohammed should have stayed here several times. Later, already as a prophet, he wrote to guarantee the monastery its existence, which was to remain secure over the centuries. The caliph did not threaten until the beginning of the 11th century el-Hākim (996-1021) to destroy the monastery, which the monks were able to counter with the construction of a mosque and minaret. Nevertheless, the monks were expelled several times between the 15th and 18th centuries. But the monastery was never destroyed. Also guaranteed during his Egypt campaign Napoleon Bonaparte 1800 the monastery his rights in a letter of protection.

In 1575 Rome recognized the independence of the monastery. It had the rank of archbishopric. Later the Greek Orthodox monastery came under the care of the Russian Tsar. Today the monastery is legally subordinate to the Greek Orthodox Jerusalem Patriarchate.

The monastery library and the collection of around 2,000 icons are among the monastery's most valuable holdings. The library is considered to be the oldest Christian library and, in terms of its former holdings of 6,000 manuscripts, is only surpassed by that of the Vatican. One of the most important manuscripts is the Codex Sinaiticus, the oldest almost completely preserved Bible manuscript, published here in 1844 by the German theologian Konstantin von Tischendorf (1815–1874) was discovered.

Life in the monastery

The monastery is now inhabited by about two dozen, mostly Greek monks. You choose the abbot and archbishop who is mostly in these days Cairo resides. The business is carried out by four monastery heads during his absence.

The main service takes place from 4:30 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. Vespers is held from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

getting there

By car or bus

The monastery is located about 2 kilometers southeast of the village St. Catherine Village (Arabic:قرية سانت كاترين‎, Qaryat Sānt Kāt (a) rīn), also el-Milga (Arabic:الماقاة‎, al-Milqa) called, removed. This is also where the final stop for the public bus lines and shared taxis is right next to the mosque.

The local bus company Bedouin bus offers trips to and from the airport twice a week Dahab or. Nuweiba at. The single route costs LE 75 (as of 7/2019) and takes two hours. The fare is paid on the bus. Hemid Ferhan drives on Tuesdays and Fridays (cell phone: 20 (0)100 571 6099) at 11:00 a.m. from St. Katharina to Dahab and returns at 5:00 p.m. from the Marine Garden Camp, ten minutes later from Hotel Jowhara. Sayed Abu Matr drives on Wednesdays and Sundays (cell phone: 20 (0)100 368 6842) at 8:00 am from St. Catherine to Nuweiba and returning at 2:00 pm from the bus stop at the hospital, thirty minutes later at the port of Nuweiba at the Hamdi cafeteria.

There is also a pair of buses operated by East Delta Bus from every day Cairo (Departure 11 a.m. in Cairo, from St. Katharina 6 a.m., 7 hours) via Sue. At 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., minibuses leave every day except on Fridays eṭ-Ṭōr to St. Katharina and return at 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. The 1 Bus stop is located northwest of the city mosque.

If you arrive by taxi from Dahab or Nuweiba, you have to pay around LE 400 to LE 500 for this Sharm esch-Sheikh around LE 900 to LE 1000.

For a night stay, some of the bus travel times are rather inconvenient. It therefore makes sense to join an organized excursion that can be booked in the local travel agencies.

No matter which direction you are coming from, you have to 1 Police checkpoint Pass about ten kilometers before reaching the village of el-Milga or the monastery. Here you have to pay the entrance fee of 3 $ for the national park. There is also a petrol station opposite the checkpoint. Another checkpoint and the entrance to the monastery is about 750 meters northwest of the monastery.

By plane

In the vicinity of the Katharinenkloster there is the 2 St. Catherine International AirportSt. Catherine International Airport in the Wikipedia encyclopediaSt. Catherine International Airport (Q1936042) in the Wikidata database(IATA: SKV). Has due to low passenger numbers EgyptAir but the regular service stopped. It is advisable to use the instead 3 Sharm esch Sheikh AirportWebsite of this institutionSharm esch Sheikh Airport in the Wikipedia encyclopediaSharm esch Sheikh Airport in the Wikimedia Commons media directorySharm esch Sheikh Airport (Q326268) in the Wikidata database(IATA: SSH) to use.

mobility

Shared taxis run regularly between the village and the monastery. The journey costs around LE 5. It takes around 45 minutes to walk.

Tourist Attractions

Plan of the monastery
Monastery wall in the north with today's visitor entrance
View of the church tower
Gorse bush, offspring of the Burning Bush
Ossuary of the monastery
Encaustic-Icon of St. Peter, 6th century

In the area of ​​the Katharinenkloster

The monastery is located on a 1570 meter high plateau at the foot of the Moses Bergs in Wadi ed-Deir ("Klostertal"). It is surrounded by a 74 meter wide, 84 meter deep, 12 to 15 meter high and 2 meter thick fortress wall, the old entrance of which is on the west side. The entrance dates from the Napoleonic era, however, before the monastery could only be reached via freight elevators. Today's visitor entrance is on the north side. The 1 Kléber tower on the left is after General Jean-Baptiste Kléber (1753–1800), an officer in the Napoleonic army.

The monks' quarters are located behind the entrance on the right.

If you walk straight ahead from the entrance, you get to the main church, the 2 Katharinenkirche. This basilica was built between 548 and 565. Inscriptions in the basilica name Emperor Justinian I (482-565), the late Empress Theodora I. (500–548) and the Byzantine builder of the church, Stephanos of Aila (Eilat). First you get to the narthex, the vestibule. A cedar door from the 6th century adorned with animals, birds and ornaments gives a view of the inside of the church. The three naves are divided by twelve granite columns. There are three chapels on each side of the outer aisles. The northern chapels are dedicated to St. Cosmas and Damian, St. Simeon the Stylite (column saint) and St. Anna and St. Consecrated to Joachim. The sacristy concludes. The chapels on the south side are dedicated to St. Marina, St. Constantine and St. Helena and St. Dedicated to Antipas. The last room is the treasury.

The floor of the church, dating from 1714, is covered with marble and porphyry. The upper end of the church is a wooden ceiling from the 18th century with chandeliers. At the end of the central nave is the apse, a semicircular altar niche that is unfortunately covered by the iconostasis from the 17th century. The mosaic in the apse dome depicts Christ in the mandorla (shrine) under which Peter lies. On the right hand of Christ one sees Moses and below James the Elder. To the left of Christ you can see Elias and John the Evangelist.

On the front side above the apse, Moses in the Burning Bush and Moses receiving the tablets of the Law are depicted. To the right of the altar is a marble shrine with the relics of St. Katharina, these are her hand and her head.

To the left of the apse is the Chapel of St. James ’the Younger, to the right of the apse that of St. Fathers.

Behind the choir is the most sacred place of the monastery: the 3 Chapel of the Burning Bush from the 13th century at the place where, according to tradition, the Burning Bush was located. The apse of this chapel contains only a simple cross on a gold background. Behind the chapel, outside the church, there is a farm building on the wall Gorse bushwhich is said to be a sprout of the original shrub.

The church tower was only erected here in 1871.

If you walk counter-clockwise from the gorse bush, you come to the basilica in the northwest of the basilica 4 Moses well. It is here that Moses is said to have grazed the sheep of his father-in-law Jethro (2 Mos 3,1 EU). Next to it is also that Monastery museum (Treasury, Skevophylakion). The museum displays icons, manuscripts, vestments, implements for worship and pilgrimage gifts that date back to the 6th century.

To the west of the basilica is the 5 Omar mosque. The pulpit and the Koran stand date from the 12th century. The minaret is on the north side of the mosque.

Other parts of the monastery are usually not accessible to visitors. To the south of the mosque is the lower courtyard. In the southwest corner of the monastery you can reach the 6 Stephansbrunnen. On the south side a ramp leads to the upper courtyard. On the west and south sides are the 7 Guest accommodation. In the southeast corner of the monastery is the 8 Monastery library housed on the second floor. Even today there are 3500, mostly religious manuscripts and around 50,000 books in their inventory.

The farm buildings are located on the east side of the monastery wall. The 17 meter long 9 old refectory (Dining room) and the dormitory (dormitory) form the end of a large courtyard.

Outside the monastery walls there is a garden, the cemetery and that in its west 10 Ossuary. The cemetery only offers space for six monks, the one who has been buried the longest is transferred to the ossuary.

In the village of Sant Katrīn

  • 11  el-Wadi-el-Muqaddas mosque (‏مسجد الوادي المقدس‎, Masǧid al-Wādī al-Muqaddas). The mosque is located in the center of the city and is also a good landmark.(28 ° 33 '38 "N.33 ° 56 '49 "E)last change: May 2015 (information may be out of date)
  • 12  Convent of the Virgin Mary (‏دير العذراء مريم‎), er-Rasis (also el-Rasees,الرصيص‎, ar-Raṣīṣ). The monastery and the garden are surrounded by a wall.(28 ° 33 '30 "N.33 ° 57 ′ 4 ″ E)last change: May 2015 (information may be out of date)

respect

The visitor should pay attention to appropriate clothing. Otherwise, cowls are kept ready.

opening hours

The monastery is only open a few hours a day, namely from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., in order to keep the monastery running. Admission is free, the one to the museum (to the treasury) costs LE 20.

The monastery is closed on Fridays, Sundays and on holidays of the Greek Orthodox Church.

The rush of visitors is sometimes enormous. Every year around 100,000 travelers visit the monastery.

Fees of $ 3 are payable for the sanctuary to which the monastery belongs (see above). The 2 Visitor center near the village of el-Milga closed again shortly after it opened. Near the center is that 13 Tomb of the Prophet Harun, Arabic:قبر النبي مارون‎, Qabr an-Nabī Hārūn. In addition, there is the 14 Tomb of the Prophet Ṣāliḥ, ‏قبر النبي صالح‎, Qabr an-Nabī Ṣāliḥ, south of the police checkpoint.

activities

In the vicinity of the Moses Mountain there are a number of worthwhile destinations in the mountains that are closed to organized tourists. Here, however, you should definitely rely on the help of local and weather-savvy guides. B. can be mediated in the local camps. Avoid street guides.

shop

Of course, there are also souvenir shops in el-Milga, as well as vegetable shops and shops for daily needs.

kitchen

There are several restaurants and a bakery in the village of el-Milga.

  • 1  Mohamed Salem restaurant (‏مطعم محمد سالم‎) (south of the city mosque). (28 ° 33 '36 "N.33 ° 56 '49 "E)

accommodation

Camps

Cheap

medium

Upscale

climate

In the area of ​​the Katharinenkloster there is a mild to warm climate all year round. It's quite cold in winter and at night.

Catherine's MonasteryJanFebMarchAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec  
Mean highest air temperature in ° C141518242831323230262016O23.8
Average air temperature in ° C101014192325262625201511O18.7
Mean lowest air temperature in ° C2261014161818161284O10.5
Precipitation in mm324400000134Σ21
Relative humidity in%393529221920222425283336O27.7

Occasional snowstorms can also be expected in winter. It was not until February 2014 that three Egyptian tourists were killed in such a storm.[3]

security

It is currently completely discouraged to take individually organized trips to Mount Sinai and the St. Catherine's Monastery that are not accompanied by state security forces. The monastery has also been the target of attacks by the Islamic State terrorist militia in the past. On April 18, 2017, a police officer was killed and four others injured in an attack on the checkpoint about 800 meters from the entrance to the monastery.[4]

health

  • 3  Central Hospital St. Katharina, el-Milga (north of the Catherine Plaza Village). (28 ° 34 ′ 0 ″ N.33 ° 57 ′ 9 ″ E)
  • Alternatively, one can visit the public and private hospitals in Dahab use.

Practical advice

Contact to the monastery

  • The local monastery or its guest house can be reached by phone 20 (0)69 347 0343 reachable.
  • On the other hand, you can also contact the Cairo monastery branch: Mount Sinai Monastery of Catherine, 18 Midan El Hence, 11271 Cairo. Tel.: 20 (0)2 2482 8513.

Banks

Public facilities

Gas stations

Tourist information

  • 5  Headquarters of the St. Catherine Protectorate (‏مكتب محمية سانت كاترين‎), St. Catherine City, Sharm el Sheikh, ‏مدينة سانت كاترين ، شرم الشيخ‎ (northeast of the city mosque). Tel.: 20 (0)69 347 0033, (0)69 347 0032. (28 ° 33 '43 "N.33 ° 56 ′ 56 ″ E)

trips

  • Many tourists associate the climb to the 15 Moses mountainMoses-Berg in the Wikipedia encyclopediaMoses-Berg in the media directory Wikimedia CommonsMoses-Berg (Q377485) in the Wikidata database with a visit to St. Catherine's Monastery the following morning. You pass them on the way to the summit 16 Chapel of the Prophet Elias and his successor Elisha (Arabic:فرش النبي إاياس‎, Farsch an-Nabī Iliyās). On the summit there are the 17 Mosque of the Prophet Ṣāliḥ on Mount Moses and the little one 18 Greek Orthodox Summit Church for Moses and the Holy Trinity.
  • There is one a good kilometer southwest of the monastery 19 Church in a valley of the Gebel Ṣafṣāfa, further south the 20 Chapel of St. Pantalaimon. The church can also be reached via a path in a north-westerly direction from Mount Moses.
  • About a kilometer west of the summit of Moses Mountain is in Wādī el-Arbaʿīn,وادي الاربعين, That 21 Monastery of the 40 Martyrs, ‏دير الاربعين‎, Deir el-Arbaʿīn. It can be reached by descending from Mount Moses in a southerly direction and circumnavigating the mountain clockwise or from the southwestern tip of the village of St. Catherine Village. At 22 28 ° 32 '39 "N.33 ° 57 ′ 25 ″ E you pass another monastery complex in the same wadi.
  • Various Bedouins in the village of el-Milga lead 3 to 5-day trekking tours. These are e.g. B. Sheikh Mousa (El Milga Bedouin Camp) and Sheikh Sina. Popular destination is z. B. the highest mountain in Sinai and Egypt, the 23 KatharinenbergKatharinenberg in the encyclopedia WikipediaKatharinenberg in the media directory Wikimedia CommonsKatharinenberg (Q1140642) in the Wikidata database.
  • For viewing the landscape artwork 24 Sinai Peace JunctionSinai Peace Junction in the Wikipedia encyclopediaSinai Peace Junction in the media directory Wikimedia CommonsSinai Peace Junction (Q4929048) in the Wikidata database by the Belgian artist Jean Vérome, also simple Blue desert called, you need an all-terrain vehicle.
  • With the mentioned minibus lines are Dahab and Nuweiba reachable.

literature

  • Monastery:
    • Galey, John: The St. Catherine's Monastery on Sinai. Stuttgart: Belser, 2014, ISBN 978-3-7630-2691-3 . Illustrated book.
    • Wahlström, Gunnel Katharina; Ochmann, Rudolf [transl.]: The Katharinenkloster near Mosesberg in Sinai: a world of tolerance. Wachtendonk: Ed. Hagia Sophia, 2014, ISBN 978-3-937129-78-5 . excerpt from the book.
    • Forsyth, George H.; Weitzmann, Kurt: The monastery of Saint Catherine at Mount Sinai: the church and fortress of Justinian; [2]: plates. Ann Arbor: Univ. of Michigan Press, 1973, ISBN 0-472-3300-4 (formally wrong).
  • Codex Sinaiticus:
    • Böttrich, Christfried: The find of the century: discovery and history of the Codex Sinaiticus. Leipzig: Evangelical publishing house, 2011, ISBN 978-3-374-02586-2 .
  • Icons and manuscripts:
    • Weitzmann, Kurt: The monastery of Saint Catherine at Mount Sinai: the icons; 1: From the sixth to the tenth century. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1976, ISBN 978-0-691-03543-7 .
    • Weitzmann, Kurt; Galavaris, George: The monastery of Saint Catherine at Mount Sinai: the illuminated Greek manuscripts; 1: From the ninth to the twelfth century. Ann Arbor: Univ. of Michigan Press, 1990, ISBN 978-0-691-03602-1 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑Egeria; Röwekamp, ​​Georg [transl.]: Itinerarium = travel report: [Latin-German]. Freiburg in Breisgau: Herder, 2000 (2nd edition), ISBN 978-3-451-22143-9 .
  2. ↑Baedeker, Karl: Egypt: Handbook for Travelers; Part 1: Lower Egypt and the Sinai Peninsula. Leipzig: Baedeker, 1885 (2nd edition), P. 518.
  3. ↑Ali Omar: Three hikers dead in Saint Catherine blizzard, one still missing, Message in the Daily News Egypt dated February 18, 2014.
  4. ↑Christian Weisflog: IS attacks monastery on Mosesberg, Message of Neue Zürcher Zeitung from April 19, 2017.
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