What is wadi el natrun

The Graceful Warbler, Wadi Natroun form, is endemic here. Hunting parties are common in the inland desert, for hares and foxes. The monasteries of St. Anthony and of St.

Paul are about 10 km south of Zafarana, a place on the western shore of the Red Sea about km south-east of Cairo. The first monastery is on the flank of Gabal al-Alaa al-Qibliya, there where the cave of St. Anthony is located and where he lived until his death in AD. The second monastery is slightly further to the west on the same mountain where St.

Paul lived for 60 years according to the legend at the beginning of the IVth century AD. Only four out of the fifty Coptic monasteries which existed in the past have survived to the present day. One is the St. Anthony, with St.

Pacomius AD were one of the first leaders of the Church, and founders of Christian monasticism. He chose the Gebel el Qalaa el-Qibliya to come closer to God and lived in a cave where his disciples founded a monastery. The first reference to a monastic organisation only appears at the beginning of the VIIth century. Then, very quickly, a village with its church, its chapels, its bread oven, its mills, cells and its gardens grew up around the cave. This layout has survived up to the present day sheltered within an over 10 m high perimeter.

It has been restructured several times but there are still authentic vestiges left illustrating the successive artistic and cultural inputs of the past centuries. Description A big square tower with a storey has several chapels, one of which is dedicated to St. Michael and another one to St. It has frescoes from the XIIIth century representing Saints on horseback, archangels and in the small adjoining chapels, the first patriarchs of Alexandria.

Access was with the help of a pulley as in a fortress. Two wheat flour mills recall the importance of agricultural work in monastic communities. He crossed the desert and settled in a cave on the flank of Gabal el Qalaa el Qibliya, an inhospitable mountain scorched by the sun.

He left numerous disciples behind at his death who, to perpetuate his memory, set up a community on the site of his tomb which became the nucleus of the present monastery. Description Smaller than that of St. Anthony, the St. Paul monastery had undergone less changes and today seems to be hemmed in with all its buildings within a medieval precinct.

A square tower, a refuge for the monks in case of an attack, has chapels as at St. But with the Islamic invasion, attacks by Bedouins and bandits and recurrent persecutions, the monasteries are gradually destroyed or abandoned and the monks massacred. Nowadays there are only 4 still active monasteries, each administered by 50 to monks. The monastery of the "Syrians" Deir El-Suryani was rebuilt and reoccupied by Syrian monks from the 13th century onwards who had dreamed of the monastery!

It consists of a medieval draw-bridge tower, a garden, a main church housing the cave of Saint Bishoy and a large Syriac wooden gate from the 14th century, as well as paintings and icons of inestimable value: the three great prophets, holy horsemen, the Virgin Mother of God. The monastery of the "Romans" Deir Baramos was occupied in the early days by Christians from Rome who were fleeing from the persecution of the Latin emperors of the time. It consists of a huge garden and two churches.

It is the furthest monastery from the other three. The monastery of St. It is named after Saint Bishoy who lived in a cave, - now installed in the heart of the Syrian monastery - a Coptic saint of the 5th century, ascetic, hermit and to whom Christ appeared twice.

His tomb with his body intact is still visible in the main church! It consists of several churches, a large and famous library and several ancient cells that can be visited. In addition, it houses relics of St. Macaronius the Great, St. John the Baptist and St. John the Dwarf. Desert Wisdom. Thus, after golden centuries, the fifty monasteries of Wadi El Natroun had to endure the wrath and massacres of the Muslim warriors, then the looting of the Bedouins and finally the asphyxiating taxations of the Sultans of Cairo.

In the image of the Coptic People and the Coptic Church as an Institution, their survival is a miracle! Some two millennia after their appearance, they are still standing proudly in the desert, standing proudly in the midst of persecutions, massacres and assaults in the desert. Hundreds of monks, hermits and non-hermits, who lived and died in the desert of Natrun have passed on to posterity, either by becoming martyrs in the face of murder and persecution, or by becoming what the Church calls "Fathers of the Desert", saints with collected words who are still taught in seminaries and monasteries throughout the world.

Grus grus is known to pass through and rest in significant numbers during spring and autumn. Some 12 species of waterbirds are known or expected to breed in Wadi El Natrun, including the largest breeding population of Charadrius pecuarius known in Egypt.

Marmaronetta angustirostris previously bred in Wadi El Natrun, at least until There is no recent indication of breeding. The last observation of the species in Wadi El Natrun was in and it is unlikely that it will breed again unless disturbance and hunting pressure are curbed. Non-bird biodiversity: Flora: Typha elephantina , one of the prominent components of marsh flora in Wadi Natrun, is known nowhere else in Egypt. The Syrian monastery. A frescro at the Syrian monastery.

The Monastery of Saint Pishoy. The Military Museum of El Alamein. The military cemetary of El Alamein. More Information Covid Measures All of our providers comply with local legislation and applicable health recommendations to avoid the spread of Covid Show more Tours or activities will not consist of more than 20 people per group.

A safe distance of one metre between clients will be maintained whenever possible. The use of masks is obligatory. The client must bring their own mask. Alcohol gel will be available before, during, and after the service. All those running the service guide, driver etc Disinfected radio units will be provided, and headphones will be single-use. Handing out of printed material such as maps or brochures will be avoided. Showing your voucher on your phone will be enough, and it is not necessary to print anything.

Duration 10 hours. Language The activity takes place with a guide that speaks in English.