Category
Monasteries & Deserts
Where silence became a vocation.
Desert monasteries and mountain monastic communities preserve the oldest continuous Christian life in the world. Visit Mount Athos in Greece, St Catherine's Monastery at Mount Sinai, the rock monasteries of Meteora and the desert fathers' cells of Wadi el-Natrun — with visiting rules, permits, dress codes and the history of Orthodox and Coptic monasticism behind each ancient monastery.
10 destinations
5/5 SignificanceSaint Catherine, Egypt
Mount Sinai
The 2,285-metre mountain where, according to Jewish, Christian and Muslim tradition, Moses received the Ten Commandments.
5/5 SignificanceSaint Catherine, Egypt
Saint Catherine's Monastery
The oldest monastery still in use, built around the bush where God spoke to Moses. It holds a world-famous library.
5/5 SignificanceQumran, Israel
Qumran
Caves above the Dead Sea where a shepherd boy found the Dead Sea Scrolls, the oldest Bible texts we have.
5/5 SignificanceChora, Greece
Patmos
The Greek island where John was sent away as a prisoner and wrote the book of Revelation. His cave is still there.
4/5 SignificanceWadi El Natrun, Egypt
Wadi El Natrun
The Egyptian desert where monk life began. Four Coptic monasteries still work the same land today.
3/5 SignificanceKalambaka, Greece
Meteora
Six monasteries built on top of tall rock towers, 300 metres above the plains of Greece.
3/5 SignificanceKaryes, Greece
Mount Athos
A Greek peninsula with 20 Orthodox monasteries. It has its own rules, keeps the old calendar, and women may not enter.
3/5 SignificanceHoly Island, United Kingdom
Lindisfarne
A small island you can only reach at low tide. Irish monks brought Christianity to northern England from here.
3/5 SignificanceIsle of Iona, United Kingdom
Iona Abbey
A tiny Scottish island where the monk Columba landed in 563. Christianity spread across Scotland from here.
3/5 SignificanceBethlehem Governorate, Palestine
Mar Saba
A monastery clinging to a desert cliff since the 400s. Monks still live there and still use oil lamps.