Monastery Highlights:
The Basilica
Chapel of the Burning Bush
Charnel House
The Fountain of Moses
Justinian's Wall
The Library & Gallery of Icons
The Mosque
Explore the Monastery
Art of the Monastery
Chapel of the Burning Bush:
The monastery's spiritual heart is the Chapel of the Burning Bush, an unassuming structure of tremendous religious significance. According the oldest monastic tradition, this chapel sits atop the roots of the same Biblical bush "that burned with fire, and was not consumed" (Exodus 3:2) when God spoke to Moses for the first time. A few feet away from the Chapel is the reputed bush itself, a rare species of the rose family called Rubus Sanctus. This species is endemic to Sinai and extremely long-lived, a fact that lends scientific credence to the site. The sprawling bush is said to have been transplanted in the tenth century, when the chapel was given a roof. Today, it is very large in size, and many monks and scholars agree that the bush's presence is the very reason St. Catherine's Monastery developed in the first place.
