Step Inside the Chapel of St. Anthony's Coptic Church
An ancient church with spectacular wall paintings in one of the world's first monasteries.
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Located in the eastern Egyptian desert, near the Red Sea, St. Anthony’s Chapel is an integral part of the monastery of St. Anthony. This monastery was founded in the mid-4th century CE, making it one of the oldest in the world.
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Honoring the Martyrs
The back of the nave is painted with a sequence of martyr saints, most of whom are shown on horseback, since they were soldiers in the Roman army. Upon their conversion to Christianity, they left their duties, as they could no longer serve the emperor and his pagan deities, and were therefore arrested, tortured and killed.
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Good vs. Evil
The side wall features an image of St. Pakaou, grasping a devil named Sofeinesar by the hair, symbolizing his mastery over temptation.
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The Writing on the Wall
Below the paintings are many dedications by ancient and modern visitors from the Eastern traditions, written in Arabic, Syriac, Garshuni, Geez, Armenian, Latin, Greek, and Russian. These inscriptions invoke God and His saints, and ask for forgiveness.
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Uncovering Masterpieces
The walls had been covered by centuries soot and overpainting and therefore remained mostly unstudied until they were cleaned and conserved through a project by the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE) that ran from 1996 to 1999.
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One of the monks of the monastery, Father Maximus el-Antony, recalls his memories of the conservation project.
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A Gem in the Desert
The church is historically significant because it is a complete 13th century church, preserved almost unchanged in its monastic context, since the Middle Ages. This cycle of wall paintings are considered the most complete and best-preserved from medieval Egypt.
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Holy Figures
Angels are depicted on the underside of the arch. To the right are St. Anthony, the founder of the monastery and the father of monasticism, and St. Paul, an Egyptian saint regarded as the first Christian hermit. To the left is the Virgin Mary holding an icon of Christ.
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Sacred Sanctuary
The inner sanctuary is separated by an intricate wood screen. The Virgin Mary and an image of Christ enthroned can be seen through the opening.
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Another remarkable image of Christ enthroned can be seen in a small chapel just outside the nave, a testament to the beauty of this church and it's artistic, religious, and historical importance.
Discover More:
Coptic Art
Resurrecting the Monastery of St. Anthony
Meet the Saints
Virtual Tour of the Monastery of Saint Anthony Museum
The project in the Monastery of St. Anthony at the Red Sea was sponsored by American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE) Egyptian Antiquities Conservation Project with funding from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in collaboration with the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities.
Created by Tessa Litecky, ARCE
Visit ARCE at arce.org
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