Saint Katrine

The monastery of Saint Catherine stands among the granite mountains of southern Sinai, beneath the peak revered as Mount Sinai. Its fortified walls enclose a church and the site traditionally associated with the burning bush seen by Moses. Byzantine emperor Justinian ordered the monastery built in the sixth century to shelter the community of monks who had gathered in this remote landscape.

Across the centuries the monastery preserved a remarkable library of religious and secular manuscripts. Its books were written in Greek, Arabic, Syriac, Georgian, Armenian and other languages, reflecting the many Christian communities that maintained ties with Sinai. Pilgrims came to the holy mountain and the monastery, while its monks lived under successive Muslim rulers. In the Ottoman period the community became predominantly Greek Orthodox, continuing a monastic tradition rooted in late antiquity.