Monastery · Egypt
Baramous Monastery (Deir al-Baramus)
دير البراموس
Listed first of Wadi el-Natrun's four ancient monasteries, linked to St Macarius and the Roman saints Maximus and Domadius, inside an 11 m wall.
Where it is
30.3572, 30.2702
Why go
The Coptic Church lists Baramous first among the four ancient monasteries of Wadi el-Natrun, tracing its monastic community to around 356, soon after St Macarius settled in the Scetis desert. Tradition ties it to two Roman saints, Maximus and Domadius, and to St Moses the Black, St Isidore and St Arsenius. After the sixth desert raid in 817 the monks raised a wall about eleven metres high, which still encloses an ancient Church of the Virgin, further churches and a guest palace. Six of its monks became patriarchs, including Pope Cyril VI.
Near Baramous Monastery (Deir al-Baramus)
Monastery
Monastery of the Syrians (Deir al-Surian)
Wadi el-Natrun monastery named after Syrian monks who settled in 984, known for medieval wall paintings and its former Syriac library.
9 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Monastery
Monastery of St Bishoy (Deir Anba Bishoy)
Late-4th-century Wadi el-Natrun monastery founded by St Bishoy, with an ancient keep, the Well of the Martyrs and Pope Shenouda III's shrine.
10 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Monastery
Monastery of St Macarius the Great (Deir Abu Maqar)
Southernmost Wadi el-Natrun monastery, grown from St Macarius's 4th-century cell and long a residence of Coptic patriarchs.
21 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Archaeological site
Abu Mina
Ruins of a late-Roman pilgrimage town around the tomb of St Menas, south-west of Alexandria; a UNESCO World Heritage property since 1979.
79 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ