Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
St Catherine's Monastery
6
A community of Greek orthodox monks has lived here,
in the shadow of Mount Sinai, almost uninterruptedly
since the monastery was founded in AD 527 by
Byzantine emperor Justinian. It replaced a chapel built
in 337 by St Helena, mother of Emperor Constantine, at
the place where tradition says that Moses saw the Burn-
ing Bush. The monastery was named after St Catherine
only in the 9th or 10th century, after monks claimed
to have found her body on nearby Mount Catherine.
Library
The collection of priceless early
Christian manuscripts is
second only to that in the
Vatican Library in Rome.
.
Icon Collection
The Walls of Justinian
built in the first half o
6th century, are part
complex's original str
The Burning Bus
This spiny evergreen
to be from the same stock
as the bush from which
Moses heard God's voice,
instructing him to lead
his people out of Egypt to
the Promised Land.
The Chapel of the
Burning Bush
stands
where it is claimed the
miraculous bush seen
by Moses originally grew.
Round Tower
.
Basilica of the
Transfiguration
This magnificently decorated
church owes its name to the
6th-century Mosaic of the
Transfiguration in the apse.
It can be glimpsed behind the
gilded iconostasis that dates
from the early 17th century.
STAR SIGHTS
.
Basilica of the
Transfiguration
. Icon Collection
For hotels and restaurants in this region see pp264-5 and p281
