MONASTERY
Saint Paul the Anchorite Monastery
Zafarana · Eastern Desert · Coptic Orthodox
A brief history
This desert monastery preserves the traditional cave of Paul the Anchorite. In the early eighteenth century its monks revived large-scale church painting, continuing a form of Coptic religious art that had largely disappeared centuries earlier.
An interesting detail
The painters drew some inspiration from the older murals at nearby Saint Anthony’s Monastery, connecting the two desert communities through art.