Discover Saint Catherine's Monastery

The outer wall is made of squared blocks of local red granite is pierced with loopholes and bears, in places, various engraved Christian symbols: Maltese cross, monograms, etc. Small bronze cannons surmount an inner walkway.

The enclosure forms a rectangle measuring 85 meters by 74 meters, with the corners facing the four cardinal points. Its height varies between 12 and 15 meters, and its thickness reaches 1.65 meters in places. The enclosure houses 24 chapels and, above all, the Church of the Transfiguration

The Church of the Transfiguration has a basilica plan, an apse, and a narthex. To the right of the altar, under a baldachin, it houses a reliquary, a marble sarcophagus which preserves two relics of Saint Catherine, her head and her left hand19. The neoclassical bell tower, designed by the monk Gregorius, was erected in 1871 and houses nine bells, including an old wooden one, which were given by Tsar Alexander II of Russia. At the chevet level, an apsidal chapel (called the chapel of Buisson-Ardent) is, according to tradition, built on the exact spot where Moses received his calling, a small silver plaque recalling this episode. The old refectory, rectangular in plan, dates from the 16th century20.

Near the church, the monastery also houses the "well of Moses", which, according to a legendary tradition, is the place where the prophet met the daughters of Jethro.

The monastery has preserved a unique example of early medieval carpentry