Egypt has completed the restoration of reputedly the world’s oldest Christian monastery, called Saint Anthonys, BBC online reports Friday.
The monastery in Suez City is believed to be 1600 years old. The government-sponsored restoration project cost over 14 million US dollar and took more than eight years.
The monastery is a popular site for Coptic Christian pilgrims. The restoration comes soon after Egypt’s worst incident of sectarian violence in a decade, when six Copts were shot dead on Christmas Eve.
Saint Anthony settled in a cave in remote mountains close to the Red Sea at the end of the 3rd Century to live in isolation. When he died, his followers built the monastery and named it after him.
The project has restored an ancient wall, a tower, two main churches and the monks’ quarters.
