Vacation With Family
By spode. Filed in Vacation and Travel |
If you have decided to fork out money for the best hotel in Sharm el-Sheikh, don’t lie on the beach with arms outspread, make an excursion! We will recommend you something really interesting.
Saint Catherine’s Monastery of Mount Sinai is an orthodox monastic centre, which has existed and kept its special character since the government of Byzantine emperor Justinian (527-565). The name of this monastery is associated with a legend about Saint martyr Catherine living in 296 AD in Alexandria and put to death by the emperor Maksiminius for her faith.
As the legend says, Catherine’s body disappeared soon after execution, and was wonderfully taken by angels to the highest point of Sinai mountains, which was later named after her. Three centuries later, by the will of God, some monks from Sinai monastery found her body and it was entombed in a sarcophagus.
The founder of Islam prophet Mohammed, Arabian Caliphs, Turkish sultans and even Napoleon patronized this monastery, and, of course, this prevented its plunder.
Saint Catherine’s Monastery has never been hijacked, destroyed or simply damaged. It retains the image of a sacred bible place through the centuries.
Now Saint Catherine’s Monastery of Mount Sinai is the smallest eparchy in the world, with a Sinai archbishop at the head. Sinai archbishop wears full episcopal vestments with a forked cap, sceptre and gold cross. The monastery belongs to Greek-orthodox church.
There are red walls around the monastery from 12 to 15 metres in height, cornered by watchtowers and occupying the territory of a nonperfect square. Outside the monastery walls there is a whole town with architecture of different epochs and styles.
Saint Catherine’s Monastery is a place of traditional pilgrimage. Here there are a lot of icons, bells, church utensils, ancient books. There is also a library in the monastery, its size is not more than 15х10 metres, but it is the library of primary importance, it ranks with the library of Vatican, because there are really pricelessness books in it. Near six million manuscripts and tomes in Greek, Arabian, Armenian, Coptic, Georgian, Syrian languages on theological, historical and scientific themes are kept in this room.
On the territory of monastery you can see the burning bush, the bush in flame of which the Saviour appeared before Moses and ordered him to take away the children of Israel from the Egyptian captivity. The chapel of the burning bush is located near the church of Transfiguration of Jesus Christ and it is the most holy place in a monastery. The altar of this chapel is directly on roots of the burning bush and is devoted to the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin. The image of Mother of God in the centre of the burning bush, holding in her hands the Child Jesus is visible to the naked eye in the icon up till now.
And it is not important, what confession you belong to, and believe you or not in everything written in Bible, here you will feel the spirit of those ancient events.
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