Egypt has completed the restoration of reputedly the world’s oldest Christian monastery, called Saint Anthony’s. The monastery is believed to be 1,600 years old.
The monastery is a popular site for Coptic Christian pilgrims. The restoration comes soon after Egypt’s worst incident of sectarian violence in a decade, when six Copts were shot dead on Christmas Eve.
Speaking at the site, Egypt’s chief archaeologist Zahi Hawass said, “The announcement we are making today shows to the world how we are keen to restore the monuments of our past, whether Coptic, Jewish or Muslim,” said Mr Hawass.
Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities spent eight years and $14.5 million to carry out a comprehensive restoration and conservation of the ancient monastery, situated in the rugged desert mountains near Egypt’s Red Sea coast.
It was in this remote spot, at the end of the third century, that renowned Christian ascetic St. Anthony took up a residence in a cave, with little more than a spring and some palm trees to sustain him.
Upon his death in A.D. 356, his followers created the world’s first Christian monastery, which houses 120 monks, the burial place of four saints, and church paintings dating to the Middle Ages.
Workers renovated the fortress-like ancient wall surrounding the monastery, several outbuildings, and its two main churches – the 15th-century Church of the Apostles and the fourth-century Church of St. Anthony.
“We have found a missing part of our history with this restoration, for there is nothing written about the beginning of the monastery,” said Father Maximus, who oversaw the renovation.
A modern sewage system also was installed for the monastery, which receives a million visitors every year.
