St. Catherine's Monastery

St. Catherine’s Monastery is free to enter, but there is a small charge to enter St. Catherine’s Protected Area plus an additional fee to view the priceless ancient manuscripts in the library. Much of the monastery is closed off to visitors to allow the monks their privacy.

St. Catherine’s Monastery is typically visited as a day trip from either Dahab or Sharm el Sheikh. Some St. Catherine’s Monastery tours include a sunrise climb of Mt. Sinai above, while others make stops at desert sites such as the Colored Canyon.

• A must for history buffs and Bible aficionados, St. Catherine’s Monastery has a dramatic desert setting that also appeals to photographers.

• Wearing shorts is prohibited for both sexes when visiting this working monastery, while women should cover their shoulders.

• On occasion, there have been kidnappings on the road to St. Catherine’s Monastery. Follow your government’s travel advice as regards travel in the Sinai Desert.

St. Catherine’s Monastery stands in the heart of the Sinai Desert, a drive of about 131 miles (211 kilometers) north from Sharm el Sheikh. There is effectively no public transport, so almost all travelers visit as part of an organized tour, often combined with a sunrise climb of Mt. Sinai before the monastery opens.

St. Catherine’s Monastery is closed on Fridays, Sundays, and the major Greek Orthodox holidays. On other days, it opens to the public in the mornings only. Mondays and Saturdays are the busiest days and, at times when tourist numbers are high, it’s worth visiting between Tuesday and Thursday.

According to the Old Testament, God once spoke to Moses through a burning bush, instructing him to beg the Egyptian pharaoh to release the Jews from captivity. St. Catherine’s Monastery was founded in the Sinai because of a rare bush that the monks believed was the original burning bush. It’s also home to the well where some believe Moses met his wife Zipporah.

Yes, you can visit St. Catherine’s Monastery. The monastery closes on Fridays, Sundays, and important feast days—note that it follows the Greek Orthodox calendar—but it’s open from 9–11:30am on other days. Many travelers pair a visit here with climbing neighboring Mt. Sinai, where many believe Moses received the Ten Commandments.

Yes, St. Catherine’s Monastery is worth visiting. A fortified monastery in a spectacularly rugged setting, it’s the oldest Christian monastery still in use as a working monastery—it’s also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You can even see what some believe to be a descendant of the biblical Burning Bush.

St. Catherine’s Monastery is known for being the oldest still-working Christian monastery. A place of pilgrimage for more than 1,500 years, it houses priceless icons, precious manuscripts, a well where Moses is believed to have drunk, and a plant descended from what the monks believe is the original Burning Bush.

The Roman Emperor Justinian built the current monastery during the 6th century AD, but a chapel at its core dates back to St. Helena and 330 AD. Depending on where you start your count, St. Catherine’s Monastery is more than 1,450 years old but less than 1,700 years old.

St. Catherine’s Monastery is a Christian monastery, Greek Orthodox to be precise. It commemorates the early Christian martyr St. Catherine of Alexandria and contains sacred icons and illuminated manuscripts. However, the area is sacred for people of all three Abrahamic religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

There are no public buses to St. Catherine’s Monastery from Sharm El Sheikh, and the 125-mile (200-kilometer) journey is too far for ridesharing or taxis. If you want to do the sunrise climb of Mt. Sinai, a tour is a much better option than self-driving, as you can sleep during the journey.