Nestled in the shadow of the sacred Mount Sinai is the Monastery of St. Catherine, where communities of monks have lived almost uninterruptedly since its founding in the 6th century. Before the monastery, the re was a chapel on this site, established in the 4th century AD by the Empress Helena at the place where tradition says that Moses saw the burning bush. This soon became a place of pilgrimage, and in the 6th century a fortified monastery was added by the Emperor Justinian to protect the monks and pilgrims from raiders.

It was not until much later that the establishment was dedicated to St. Catherine. She was an early Christian saint who was martyred in Alexandria in the 4th century. After being tortured on a spiked wheel, she was beheaded. According to legend her body was carried away by angels, to be found, uncorrupted, six centuries later by monks on Mount St. Catherine, a neighbour of Mount Sinai and at 2,642 metres the highest mountain in Egypt.

Once entailing a difficult and dangerous journey for would-be visitors, the monastery is now served by a good road connecting it to the Red Sea resorts. Many people visit on a half day trip arranged by their hotel and, as a consequence, the small village of St. Catherine close by the monastery is often choked with tour buses and people, especially in the mornings.