Monastery · Egypt
White Monastery (Monastery of St Shenoute)
الدير الأبيض (دير الأنبا شنودة)
Fifth-century Church of St Shenoute west of Sohag, head house of a monastic federation that included the Red Monastery.
Where it is
26.5346, 31.6458
Why go
On the desert edge about eight kilometres west of Sohag, the White Monastery is the standing church built under Shenoute, who led a monastic federation from the late fourth to mid-fifth century. The Red Monastery to the north belonged to the same federation. Inside the roofless nave, the eastern semi-dome preserves a medieval Christ in Majesty painted by an Armenian artist named Theodore. Village houses once filled the church; monks resettled the site in 1975, the houses were cleared by the mid-1980s and excavation followed.
Near White Monastery (Monastery of St Shenoute)
Archaeological site
Athribis (Sohag)
Ptolemaic–Roman temple town west of Sohag, with the Temple of Ptolemy XII, rock tombs, quarries and an open-air display.
3 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Monastery
Red Monastery
A historic monastery near Sohag known for its decorated church and red-brick construction.
4 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Archaeological site
Temple of Seti I (Abydos)
Seti I's L-shaped limestone temple at Abydos, with fine raised reliefs, seven sanctuaries and the Abydos King List.
47 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Archaeological site
Temple of Hathor at Dendera
Dendera’s temple is dedicated to Hathor, with distinctive goddess-headed columns and astronomical ceiling decoration.
111 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ