Location: 100 km (62 mi) Northwest of Cairo Map
Wadi El Natrum is located 100 km (62 mi) Northwest of Cairo in an natural depression in the western desert. In the ancient times ten salt lakes of Wadi El Natrum and salt deposits in this part of the desert were an important sources of salt. With the arrival of Christianity isolated part of the Saqqara desert attracted many Christian monks who were looking for solitude in this abandoned lands. Local legend claimed that Jesus Christ with his mother Mary and Joseph lived in Wadi El Natrum after they fled persecutions of king Herod the Great. This belief became particularly popular in the time of Roman persecutions of Christians.
Deir Anbu Bishoi
Monastery of Saint Pishoy or Saint Bishoi is named after its founder. There are five monasteries found here. Saint Pishoy (Bishoi) church was constructed in the 9th century AD and is usually used in the summer months. Another church of The Virgin (Al- Adra) is usually used in the winter months. The monastery contains remains of its founder Saint Pishoy (Bishoi), Paul of Tomah and Ephraim the Assyrian.
Deir al- Baramus
The name of the monastery comes from a term that means "The Romans". It is a reference to two Roman Christians who fled the persecutions of the pagan rulers. They settled here and the community that they started eventually grew in the monastery that you see today. The monastery contains five churches that includes Church of El- Adra (The Virgin), Church of Anba Tadrous, Church of Saint John the Baptist, Church of Angel Michael and a small chapel of Mari Gerges.
Deir as- Suriani
The Syrian monastery that is found just 400 meters North of Monastery of Saint Pishoy was constructed in the 6th century AD. Original monks separated from the community of Saint Pishoy Monastery over status of Saint Mary, Mother of God (Theotokos). Eventually the schism over forgotten and monastery abandoned. It was later handed over to a group of Syrian monks. The monastery contains a library and olive press. Although the monastery itself is open to the public, women are not allowed inside its walls.
Deir Abu Makar
Saint Macarius, a Christian monk founded this monastery circa 330 AD. Son of the Egyptian priest, he renounced pagan heritage of his family and converted to Christianity. He is also buried here. The monastery contains religious icons and frescoes that date back to the 5th century AD. It is usually closed for tourists, although if you are an Orthodox Christian you probably know the magic words how to get inside.
The Wadi an-Natrun got its name as a mining site for naturally
occurring natron from natron lakes, which was used in antiquity and
was used, among other things, for mummification and glass
production. Egyptian natron was exported to the Mediterranean region
by the Phoenicians via Alexandria. It was relatively pure and
contained more than 40% sodium oxide (as usual in petrology,
information refers to oxide, but in fact it is sodium carbonate) and
up to 4% calcium carbonate. From 359 BC to 30 BC it was the center
of Egyptian glass production, mainly for export to the Roman Empire.
Along with the cell desert, the Sketis near Nitria is one of the
areas southwest of the Nile Delta where one of the basic forms of
Christian monasticism developed in the second half of the 4th
century, namely that of the hermit community. Following the example
of Saint Anthony, Christians retreated here to renounce the world
through asceticism. Among them were Saints Arsenius, Makarios the
Egyptian (who was the spiritual center of this hermit colony) and
Makarios of Alexandria, who presided over the community as abbot.
The monasteries were repeatedly exposed to attacks by Berbers and
Bedouins. Abbas Makarios attributed this to the sins of the monks;
He said to the brothers about the desolation of the Scetis: “When
you see a Kellion being built near the lake, then know that their
desolation is at hand. If you see trees, then it is at the door, and
if you see boys, then take your coats and go away.” (Apophthegmata
458)
The further meaning of the term Skite is derived from
the name, which is understood to mean, among other things, a small
chapel or church with a few separate surrounding hermit or hermit
houses. The term Sketis was already used as a collective term for
the other hermit settlements in the western Nile Delta by the late
antique monk writers who described the life of the hermits.
Today there are still four monasteries in this desert valley cut
through by the Alexandria-Cairo highway:
Monastery of St.
Makarios – Dair Anba Maqar
Monastery of Boromeos – Dair
al-Baramus
Syrian Monastery – Dair as-Suryan
Monastery of St.
Pishoi – Dair Anba Bischoi
Some of the most renowned saints of the Wadi Natrun include several Desert Fathers, including Saint Ammon, Saint Arsenius, Saint John the Dwarf, Saint Macarius of Egypt, Saint Macarius of Alexandria, Saint Moses the Moor, Saint Bishoi, Saints Maximus and Domatio, Saint Poemen and Saint Samuel the Confessor.
The area around Wadi Natrun has been identified as the probable site where French aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's plane crashed on December 30, 1935. After miraculously surviving the crash, he and his plane mechanic nearly died of thirst. before being rescued by a nomad. Saint-Exupéry documented his experience in his book Land of Men. This event is believed to have inspired his masterpiece, The Little Prince.