St. Catherine Monastery
History has chosen Sinai to record many memories many memories and events, Sinai the peninsula has the charm, captivation and holiness and is mentioned in the ancient Egyptian texts, Bible and Koran.
It is famous for its turquoise and copper mines, and besides, it was the first military route in the ancient history and the pilgrims, way to Hejaz when the Islam shone over Egypt.
Since the early Christian periods south Sinai was a great attraction for the Christian monks. The Monasticism as an escape from the Roman violence, spread in the 4th century A.D. specially in Firan valley, al Tur and mount Moses and all are near the water sources.
Mount Moses, 2242m above the sea level, has been a very special place not only for the Christians but also the Moslems. It is believed that it is the mountain Moses climbed and received the Tablets of the law.
St. Catherine :
St. Catherine lived in Alexandria during the persecution of Christians in the reign of Maximinus (305-313A.D.) and for her adherence to the Christian faith, the Roman tortured her severely and strapped her to spiked wheel to tear her body, but in vain finally she was beheaded in 307 A.D.
Five centuries later a monk saw a vision in which her body was carried by angels and laid on a peak of a mountain of Sinai. Therefore the monks carried her relics to the church of Transfiguration which was named for her beside the monastery, formerly called the Virgin and the mentioned mountain peak (2642m in height).
The Monastery :
It lies at the foot of Sinai mountain, where the beauty of nature and climate and the fresh well water. To its west is al-Raha Valley.
This monastery is similar to the fortress of the middle ages and is provided with a big wall of granite stones including towers at its corners and surrounding inner buildings one above the other with curved passages and corridors. The different designs of these buildings confirm that they date back to different periods.
The height of the wall is from 12 to 15m. while the sides are 117, 80,77, 76m.
The main gate at the western side is now sealed and to its left is the gate which is presently in use.
In 342 A.D. Empress Helena mother of Constantine the great, built a monastery including the chapel know as the virgin Mary at the burning bush, and in the 6th cent. Emperor Justinian ordered the building of the church of Transfiguration in the same holy place.
Both the church and monastery were later named for St. Catherine.
The original building was destroyed except some parts of the walls and church while remaining building date back to subsequent ages and the most of them to the recent century.
The most important Buildings of the Monastery :
The great church, the burning bush chapel, the Fatimid Mosque, the monks cells, the guest dwelling, library, an oil press, 2 mills, grain stories, kitchens, wells, a big garden outside the wall.
The Main Church :
Built in the shape of a basilica at the northern side of the monastery and is called the great church or the cathedral. It consists of a central nave flanked with 2 aisles into which small chapels open the central nave ends with the alter at the eastern side, and the aisles end with 2 rooms, one for preparing the holy bush where god spoke to Moses.
The visitors to this church must take off their slippers outside imitating Moses when the approached this holy place.
The Mosque :
built in the Fatimid period in the time of Caliph Al-Amer-be-Ahkam Allah in 500 A.H./ 1106 A.D. it is situated southwest of the church and inside the monastery wall. The horizontal plan of it is a rectangular 11*7m.
the mosque consists of three riwaqs, of which the middle is the biggest and the besides, it has main mihrab flanked with 2 others.
The walls (6m in height) are built of granite rocks mortared with loam clay and covered from inside and outside with loam clay plaster.
The floor is tiled with hip tiles but they are not the original. The roof is constructed of wood and reed, tilled with rocks and hip tiles and carried on circular arches supported on 2 piers. Below the mosque is an oil press since the mosque is considered the second floor.
The Minaret :
It rise 12m at the eastern corner of the mosque and consists of 2 parts, the 1st part 3*3.5m and ends with a balcony projecting 50cm from the wall (75cm in thickness) while the other is 2.55*2.55m and its walls thickness is 45cm. with a dome in a semi-ball shape at the top.
The Minbar :
Lies to the right of the middle mihrab and adjacent to the qibla wall. It is made of cedar wood and consists of 2 sides with wooden panels bearing floral decorations of Fatimid style.
This minbar is one of 3 famous minbars of Fatimid style. The second is that of the mosque of badr al-Din Al-Gamali 484 A.H./1091A.D. which was carried from Ashkelon to the holy mosque of Ibrahim in al-Galil in Palestine, while the 3rd exists in the mosque of al saleh Talai in the city of Quos in upper Egypt (550A.H./1155A.D.).
The library:
It is on the 3rd floor of old building south to the great church and is considered of the most important elements of the monastery since it contains rare manuscripts and a big number of the decrees the caliphs offered the mosque.
The library received much interest on the part of the scientists and scholars , and was microfilmed by Alexandria University and the congress library in Washington.
The wells :
Inside the wall of the monastery are many wells as Moses well north to the main church, the bush well near the burning bush and St. Stephens well south west to the main church.
The oil press :
It is for squeezing olives to extract the oil. It lies below the mosque and extends below the yard in front of it. The ceiling is of wooden beams and reed ties resting on granite arches.
The floor of the yard is provided with lanterns to light the oil press.
The Garden :
In front of the monastery is a garden including a cemetery for the monks in the middle and a skull house beside it. The monks used to bury their heads and leave the bodies to purify, then deposit the boned in the skull house adjoining the cemetery.
The near building called the guest house was built in 1863 under the rule of Khedive Ishmael.
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