Mount Sinai & St. Catherine's Monastery

Both Mount Sinai and St. Catherine Monastery are located in the Sinai Peninsula area of Egypt.
The Sinai Peninsula sits in between the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea on the north and south respectively. Its lands sprawl between the continents of Africa and Asia even though it's geopolitically considered to be a part of North Africa. This peninsula is 60,000 square meters and is home to about 600,000 inhabitants.

Mount Sinai or Jabal Musa (Mount Moses) is believed to be at the same location as Mount Sinai, mentioned in the Torah, Bible, and Quran, where God gave Moses the Ten Commandments.

St. Catherine's Monastery is in the Sinai peninsula, close to the Egyptian town of Saint Catherine, it can be found in a little valley to the north of Mount Sinai. The monastery was named after Catherine of Alexandria.

The Monastery was founded by emperor Justinian I in 527, and its construction began around 530 CE. The monastery was supposedly built around the burning bush Moses came across in the Bible, Torah, and Quran which is why it is very sacred to Christianity, Islam, and Judaism.

In the 7th century, the monastery was a center of refuge for scattered communities of Christians persecuted by the rise of Islam and the monastery had also been a pilgrimage center in the Middle Ages.
St. Catherine’s original appearance has been preserved through the years and it holds the record for being the oldest continuously inhabited Christian monastery in the world. Within the monastery is also the world's oldest continually operating library which contains the largest collection of early Christian icons. Its official name is The Sacred Autonomous Royal Monastery of Saint Katherine of the Holy and God-Trodden Mount Sinai.

Mount Sinai is regarded as the most important site of divine revelation in Jewish history. It is believed to be where God appeared to Moses and gave him the Ten Commandments. According to Jewish tradition, Moses did not only receive the ten commandments here but it is believed that he also received the entire collection of biblical text and interpretation on this mountain.
There is still debate regarding whether the modern day is at the same location as the biblically recorded one. Mount Sinai itself, however, has long been accepted as the site in the traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
 

Mount Sinai is a 2,285-metre (7,497 ft), moderately high mountain and is surrounded on all sides by even higher mountains. It stands next to Mount Catherine which, is a 2,629 meter (8,625 ft) mountain and also the highest peak in Egypt.

The Monastery of St. Catherine sits at the foot of both Mount Sinai and Mount Catherine. Its elevation is about 1200 meters and it has a land area of about 627 square meters.

1. Climb The Sinai Itself.
You shouldn't come all the way to mount Sinai without seeing the view from the top.
You can walk the same steps the holy prophet walked many thousand years ago.
The Sinai is a relatively easy climb, it can be hiked on foot or on the back of donkeys and camels locally available. On getting to the top, you get a view, unlike anything you've ever seen.

2. Hike The Camel Trail.
The Camel Trail is actually a trail that leads to Mount Sinai itself. The trail begins along the northern wall of St. Catherine's Monastery and takes about two hours of walking to complete. It's an exciting hike as the paths are uneven, but there are many kiosks on the trail where you can get snacks and food or rest of you get tired.
You can also hire camels and donkeys for the journey if you can't make it on foot.

3. Walk The Steps Of Repentance.
This trail is another trail used to access Mount Sinai. It is a relatively harder hike than the Camel Trail but the scenery of the mountains and the impressive view of St. Catherine's Monastery it offers to make the hike worth it.
 

1. The Burning Bush
This is the holiest part of St Catherine’s Monastery. The bush is located in a chapel and kept in a chamber behind the altar of the basilica. Most times it is not accessible by tourists but those who are lucky to get in are required to come with bare feet. Like the Prophet Moses did when he first encountered it.

The Chapel’s altar has a silver star beneath it and is believed to serve as a mark of the site where God spoke to Moses.
The bush was actually transplanted from a small garden several meters away and is now protected by a stone wall and tended by the monks of the monastery.

2. The Well Of Moses
The Well of Moses is also located within the walls of the monastery. It is also known as the Well of Jethro and is believed to be where Moses met his wife, Zipporah.
The well is still one of the monastery’s main sources of water.

3. The Icons At The Basilica
The monastery has an impressive collection of Christian icons that it saved from the 8th century when Emperor Leo III ordered the destruction of any image of Jesus or any saint. The icons are very naturalistic and free from stylization that was later used in later icons.
The monastery has about 2,000 icons but a handful of them are always on display in the basilica.
 

The best time to visit the Sinai Peninsula, in general, is between April to October. If you have to hike the Sinai Trail, you'd find it especially enjoyable in spring and autumn. Egyptian summers are very hot, and the winter can be very cold with freezing temperatures sometimes it even snows in the mountains.

St. Catherine's Monastery is only open between 9 am and 12 pm so it is usually crowded between those times. It is however less crowded between 11 am and 12 pm since there's less influx of tourists.
 

Note * Always check opening times before a visit to St Catherine’s as it does have some days when it is closed.