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 Being isolated and protected by the surrounding majestic holy mountains, the monastery of St.
Catherine is the major attraction for tourists visiting the area.
At the bottom of the mountain where Moses is said to have received the Ten Commandments, the monastery lies.
St. Catherine is one of the oldest Christian monasteries, and is considered the smallest diocese of the world.
The Church is built in the shape of a basilica and is divided into the narthex, where collections of icons are exhibited.
The church is build during the 15 centuries and presents the huge icons of St. John the Baptist, the Holy Virgin, Christ, and St. Catherine. The monastery is open to today's visitors.
The sacred part of the monastery is The Chapel of the Burning Bush Burning Bush, .Every Saturday the monks hold their liturgy in the chapel.
Anyone enters the monastery has to to remove his shoes as written in the bible:
The Mosque was built in 1106 during the era of Caliph Hakim to protect the Monastery from the unpredictable destructive passion of Caliph
Hakim. |
 More than 2000 icons represent a mirror of Christian history, telling from the separation of the Latin and Eastern churches, the period of the iconoclasm and until the 18th century, when the art of icon painting vanished in St. Catherine.
The Library represents one of the richest collections of manuscripts in the world. Out of 6000 manuscripts, 3000 are ancient, some of them older than the monastery itself . Written in many languages , Greek, Arabic, Hebrew, Syriac, Armenian Georgian, Coptic, Polish and Slavic,
St. Catherine.
The Library represents one of the richest collections in the world. Out of 6000 manuscripts, 3000 are ancient, some of them older than the monastery itself. Written in Greek, Arabic, Hebrew, Syriac, Armenian Georgian, Coptic, Polish and Slavic, the manuscripts deal with theological, scientific, liturgical and historical issues. The Codex Syriacus is a 5 th century translation of the Gospels in Syriac and the oldest translation of the bible into any other language. It is the oldest after the theft of the Codex Sinaiticus by von Tischendorff in 1859. The Codex Sinaiticus dates from the 4th century and shares with the Codex Vaticanus to be the first copies of the Greek Bible. Whereas the Codex Sinaiticus is more complete and less corrupted. |
 The Chapel of the Burning Bush is the sacred part of the monastery. Once it contained the Burning Bush, which is replaced outside of the chapel and fenced behind a stone wall. Every Saturday the monks hold their liturgy in the chapel.
The legend tells, that virgin Catherine died as a martyr in the 4th century. She was said to be the daughter of a noble family from Alexandria. She tried to convert Emperor Maximanus .She succeeded to convert many of those who were in his closest circle. He sentenced her to death. The church of St. Catherine in Alexandria is said to be the place of her martyrdom.
Five centuries later a monk had the vision of angels carrying the body of St. Catherine upon the highest mountain.
Today the skull and her left hand remained in the Church of Transfiguration.
Gebel Mussa, is honoured by the three great monotheistic religions. The path of Moses, It is believed that God appeared in fire to the prophet. Bedouin tradition has it, that here is the place where Prophet Muhammad started his night journey to heaven.
The Bell Tower houses 9 bells of different sizes and an ancient wooden bell. The wooden bell is used daily, the metal bells are only heard on Sundays and on holidays. |
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