Monastery of St. Simeon

Aswan, Egypt

The Monastery of St. Simeon was established in the 7th century by Coptic monks seeking to escape to the meditative quiet of the desert. The complex was rebuilt at least once before it was finally abandoned during the 13th century; however, the monastery remains in surprisingly good shape given it long disuse.

The complex was walled to protect the monk from Bedouin raiders and other threats and the stone and mudbrick walls make for an impressive sight on approach. It engenders thoughts of a medieval fortress more than a religious institution. Inside are the remains of a church, a stable, and other buildings vital to the simple lives of these medieval monks.

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Aswan, Egypt
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Founded: 7th century AD
Category: Religious sites in Egypt

Rating

4.6/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Pecca Mundi (2 months ago)
Ticket is 100 EGP. You will be followed by men that pretend to make friendly chats, but in reality are 'guides' that will demand money once they start pointing things out to you. So, be really firm in telling them off if you have no interest in that. Outside the monastery, there are many vendors with shops. The site itself is beautiful, and has great historical and spiritual importance
Catherine Shawarby (3 months ago)
Landing on the West Bank our camels awaited, he making great fuss that his tuk tuk had not heat arrived to transport him up the hill to the monastery! Fortunately it arrived and we proceeded to mount our camels… now its a long time since I’ve ridden a camel, or anything more risky than a bicycle so it was a bit f a shock to the system, and it seemed I had a particularly frisky young camel which had me hanging on for dear life and there was no way I was going to leave to to get my camera out to record the event for posterity! Fortunately it wasn’t too long a ride and I was thankful to dismount safely! My husband said OK we will go back down with the guide in the tuk tuk! The monastery, from the 5th century is in ruin but there a task force working on preventing and further decay in a number of roof areas, which must be a huge job, they started back in 2014, although funding hasn’t always been available for them to be present continuously. The monastery itself is huge, much larger than we had expected, and it was relatively easy to imaging how each area was used when in full use. There was an interesting room full of ‘graffiti’ of Sudanese travellers from the
Will Smith (6 months ago)
EPIC! A very cool break from temples and a nice insight into some different Egyptian history. There are guides there, that will follow you and tell you about the history. You could probably say no, but I just went with it this time and it was good fun and adds to the experience. It took about 30/45 mins to walk around. I tipped 200EGP, you could do less, but for me it was worth the £3 ? Entrance is 80EGP per person.
Tanja Helms (2 years ago)
When arriving at the Monastery of Saint Simeon, you feel like you’ve left earth. The vast amount of desert and rock and sand is staggering to see. The ruins are quite spectacular. It’s surreal to be there and see camels in the distance traveling. Certainly a noteworthy experience.
Mohamed Fawzy (3 years ago)
Such a special place up a remote desert hill. To get there, you'll have to take a boat from the city, and then hike up a hill for about 10-15 minutes. It's worth the effort, but make sure to have someone explain the history of this 5th century gem for you.
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