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
The Library and Gallery of Icons:
The library at St. Catherine is, by any standard, extraordinary. It contains the largest collection of Christian manuscripts and icons outside of the Vatican Museum. In 1844, a German scholar visiting the library discovered -- and then arguably stole -- the Codex Sinaiticus, an extremely important 4th- century version of the Bible that now rests in the British Museum. Similar incidents throughout the years have forced the monastery to allow access only to visitors who have obtained written permission from the Archbishop of Cairo. Attatched to the library is the Gallery of Icons, which houses over 2,000 of these ancient treasures.