at the Monastery of Saint Paul the Anchorite
Finally, our holiday in Egypt was coming to an end and we had to catch our flight back home. Nevertheless, on the way from Hurghada to the airport in Cairo, we stopped at two ancient monasteries in the middle of the desert.
Our first stop was the beautiful Monastery of Saint Paul the Anchorite. It was founded in the 4th century AD on top of a cave in which the saint lived for more than 80 years! In the meantime, an underground church was built into the original cave which contains the remains of Saint Paul and very beautiful wall paintings. Furthermore, we saw some of the ancient rooms including the kitchen and dining hall as well as the natural fountain, which allows the growth of palm trees in a small garden.
A few kilometres further lies the Monastery of Saint Anthony. Some people claim that this is the oldest monastery in the world founded by Saint Anthony himself in the 3rd century AD. Due to its importance, the place is quite big and includes a beautiful church with fantastic wall paintings.
Egypt really exceeded all our expectations with unbelievable monuments created over several millennia, fantastic nature from desert to coral reefs, beautiful weather, and delicious food! Unfortunately, we had to leave this exciting country and the plane took me back to Germany with nice views of the Nile River Delta, parts of Greece, and the Alps.
I really hope that I can return to Egypt some day and explore even more!
Matt Travels 