Rutho Monastery

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Rutho Monastery is part of the Tentative list of Egypt in order to qualify for inclusion in the World Heritage List.

The Rutho Monastery was commissioned in the 6th century by the Byzantine emperor Justinian. It is located in the Raithu desert situated around El Tor. It was founded in remembrance of Christian monks fleeing persecutions such as the "Martyrs of Raithu" who were murdered by bedouins.

Map of Rutho Monastery

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The coordinates shown for all tentative sites were produced as a community effort. They are not official and may change on inscription.

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Lauren

USA - 02-Jan-21 -

Rutho, more commonly spelled Raitho, Monastery is a 4th century monastic site in the town of El Tur on the Sinai Peninsula.

Like the other tentative list sites on the Sinai Peninsula, there is very little information about the monastery (which is now a dependency of St. Catherine’s Monastery).  Like other monasteries in Egypt, there is generally a modern working church/monastery and nearby ruins of the historic monastery.

When traveling from St. Catherine’s back to Sharm, I asked the driver to stop by El Tur. You can see the old monastic site from the road, and I took a few pictures. However, the guards said that the site was closed and were not happy that I was taking pictures.  I’d suggest calling ahead, but (like most things in Sinai) it’s not clear who to call or how to arrange for a visit.

There are a number of 4th through 6th century monastic sites in the Southern Sinai on the tentative list, but none compare to the listed site of St. Catherine’s Monastery, which is built around the supposed burning bush at the foot of Mt. Sinai. I could see perhaps the current listing being expanded to include its various chapels and dependencies that dot the south Sinai region, but there would need to be more information and better conservation of these other sites.


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Full Name
Rutho Monastery
Country
Egypt
Added
1994
Type
Cultural
Categories
Archaeological site - Byzantine Religious structure - Christian
Link
By ID
1994 Added to Tentative List

Unesco Website: Rutho Monastery

The site has 1 locations

Rutho Monastery (T)

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