Wadi El Natrun is a desert valley about 100 kilometres northwest of Cairo, on the desert road to Alexandria, where Christian monasticism took its recognised shape. It is the place where the desert fathers first lived as hermits in the 4th century AD and where their followers first gathered into organised communities. What began as scattered hermitages in the sand became the monastic rule that later spread to Europe, and the monasteries in the valley are still working monasteries today.

The valley sits on the floor of a depression below sea level, where lakes of natron salt gave the valley its name. In the Roman era the salt was mined for mummification, glassmaking and bleach, and the same chemistry that made the valley a mining town also made it a place where nothing grows and few people pass. That is exactly what the first monks were looking for.

Why Wadi El Natrun matters

Monasticism did not begin here, but its structure did. Anthony the Great, the founder of desert monasticism, was born in Middle Egypt and began his hermit life in the Eastern Desert. But it was in the Nitrian Desert, as Wadi El Natrun was called in Greek, that monastic communities first organised themselves with a rule, shared work and elected leaders. Macarius of Egypt settled here in 330 AD and the valley grew from a loose collection of hermits into what a 4th-century visitor described as a town of monks. It is possible to visit the area in a single day trip from Cairo and see the direct ancestors of every monastery in the Christian world.

The four surviving monasteries

Monastery of Anba Bishoi

The most visited and the most complete of the four. The body of Anba Bishoi, the 4th-century monk who founded it, is still kept in the church and is one of the best-preserved bodies in Egypt. The keep, the thick-walled tower where monks retreated during Bedouin raids, is one of the finest surviving examples in the country, and the current Pope of the Coptic Church spends retreats here. The compound is planted with trees and the church walls carry centuries of soot and icon layers.

Monastery of the Syrians (Deir al-Suryan)

The smallest of the four and in many ways the finest. Founded by Syrian monks, the monastery has a Church of the Virgin Mary with 10th-century wall paintings that were uncovered in the 20th century under a layer of plaster. The icons in the main church are among the most beautiful in Egypt, and the library held a famous collection of Syriac manuscripts. If you only visit one monastery properly, visit this one. Look at the door in the church's sanctuary, which is carved with geometric patterns and Syriac inscriptions, and find the painting of the Annunciation on the northern wall.

Monastery of Saint Macarius the Great (Deir Abu Makar)

The spiritual centre of the group. Founded by Macarius himself, the monastery is still one of the most important monastic communities in Egypt, and Pope Cyril VI lived here as a monk. The relics of the 49 martyrs of Scetis are kept here, along with the relics of John the Baptist and Elisha the prophet. The monastery has been substantially restored and rebuilt in recent years. The monastery has a strict dress code and visits inside the churches are limited but the compound, the guesthouse and the museum of the martyrs' relics can be visited.

Monastery of Paramos and Monastery of Baramous

Two names for the same site. The Monastery of the Romans, as its Arabic name means, was founded by two Roman princes, Maximus and Domitius, who became monks and died here in the 4th century. The Church of the Virgin Mary holds their remains. It is the least visited of the four and the most peaceful, and it is still home to an active community of monks.

What else is in the valley

The four monasteries are what most visitors see, but the valley has more. There are the remains of over fifty ancient monastic sites in the desert around them, some marked by low walls and some by nothing but broken pottery. On the eastern edge of the valley are salt lakes whose colour changes through the year, from pale green to pink to bright orange, as the water level and the salt concentration change. The lakes are reached by road on the northern side of the valley and make a worthwhile photo stop on the way back to Cairo.

Getting there

The drive from Cairo takes about 90 minutes to 2 hours, depending on where you start, and the desert road is in good condition all the way. Most people visit the valley as a day trip from Cairo, which is the practical option. There are no hotels in the valley itself, so a day trip is the natural shape of a visit. Alexandria is about 100 kilometres northwest, so the valley can also be folded into a Cairo-Alexandria itinerary as a stop on the desert road. A private car or an organised tour is the straightforward way to do this; there is no practical public transport to the monasteries themselves.

Opening hours and visiting rules

The monasteries are working religious communities and the visiting hours reflect that. Most of the four monasteries receive visitors from about 9am to 5pm, but hours vary with the religious calendar and are shorter on feast days and during fasts. Dress modestly: long trousers for men and covered shoulders for women. Photography inside the churches is generally not allowed and always worth asking about at the gate. Do not plan a visit on a Sunday morning, when monks are at the liturgy and visitors are limited. The monasteries sell books, icons and honey from their own bees, and the purchase supports the communities.

Planning the day

A comfortable day trip from Cairo looks like this: leave Cairo by 8am, reach the valley by 10, and visit Anba Bishoi and the Syrians before lunch. There are guesthouses at some of the monasteries where visitors can eat a simple meal, but most day trips bring a packed lunch or stop at a service station on the desert road. In the afternoon visit Paramos and, if time allows, Saint Macarius, and stop at the salt lakes on the way out. The drive back to Cairo takes about two hours and the desert road is lit for most of its length. In total the day is about eight hours from door to door, and four to five hours in the valley itself.

When to visit

The desert is most forgiving from October to April. In winter the valley is cold at dawn and warm by midday. In summer the heat is severe, and by June the valley floor can pass 40°C by midday, which makes the walk between the monasteries an endurance exercise rather than a tour. The monasteries themselves stay cool because of their thick walls, so summer visits are still possible if you start very early and finish by early afternoon.

Why it is worth the drive

Wadi El Natrun is one of the few places in the world where you can see the origin of an institution that still exists and still matters. Every monastery in Christendom, from the great abbeys of Europe to the modern monasteries of America, follows a pattern that took its first organised shape in this valley. The buildings you walk through are modern by Egyptian standards, mostly rebuilt in the last two hundred years, but the communities inside them are direct and unbroken continuations of the 4th century. There are few places in the world where the distance between you and late antiquity is so small.

To visit Wadi El Natrun from Cairo with a private guide and driver, look at our Cairo day tours or send us your dates and we will arrange the trip around your itinerary.