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Born in the Upper Egypt town of Coma near Heracleopolis in the year 251 A.D, St. Antony the reat, when orphane! at the age of 1", #ecame a hermit an! th$s li%e! to 1&5 years ol!. He li%e! as an Anchorite, as still e'ists in Egypt, an! it is sai! that he was tormente! his entire life #y flatteries an! temptations of the !e%il. He, along with St. (achomi$s, were two of the first e'ponents of Christian monasticism, which originate! in the Egyptian !esert. He is #$rie! #eneath one of the ancient ch$rches )St. Antony* of the monastery. A #oo+ written #y Athanasi$s, the #ishop of Ale'an!ria, tho$san!s across E$rope to follow in the hermit,s footsteps. St. Antony,s -onastery )Deir -ar Antonios*, an! its neigh#or St. (a$l,s, are #oth Coptic Christian an! are the ol!est inha#ite! monasteries in Egypt. Hi!!en !eep in the .e! Sea -o$ntains an! relying on springs for their water s$pply, #oth still o#ser%e rit$als that ha%e har!ly change! in 1/ cent$ries. 0hey are accessi#le #y special to$rs from Cairo, S$e1 or H$rgha!a an! a stay in either monastery can #e arrange! in a!%ance.
St. Antony,s -onastery, which lies at the foot of Al23al1am -o$ntain near Al 4aafarana, was fo$n!e! in 55/ AD 6$st after the saints !eath an! is the ol!est acti%e monastery in the worl!.. 7e !o +now that St. Antony fo$n!e! se%eral monasteries !$ring his life )tho$gh they wo$l! not ha%e #een recogni1a#le in the mo!ern $se of the term*, #$t alas they are no more. 7e
+now little of the monastery,s %ery early perio!. Howe%er, !$ring the si'th an! se%enth cent$ries many mon+s from 7a!i 8atro$n who were $n!er fre9$ent attac+s #y Be!o$ins migrate! to St. Antony,s. B$t this monastery was pl$n!ere! on many occasions also, #eing partly !estroye! in the 11th cent$ry. Between the 12th an! 15th cent$ries, the monastery flo$rishe! #$t was pl$n!ere! again in 1:5: #y Be!o$in ser%ants. D$e to s$ch attac+s, this is a fortress style monastery. 0ho$gh Coptic to!ay, o%er its many years the monastery was often m$lti2faith, ho$sing mon+s of se%eral !ifferent Christian religions.
0o!ay it is a self2containe! %illage with gar!ens, a mill, a #a+ery an! fi%e ch$rches, the #est of which is St. Antony,s Ch$rch. Egypt monasteries are e'periencing a re%i%al, an! the mon+ pop$lation of St. Antony,s has grown consi!era#ly in recent years.
0he -onastery has e'ceptional wall paintings of holy +nights in #right colors an! the hermit fo$n!ers of the monastery in s$#!$e! colors an! icons. 0hese wall paintings, wi!ely +now to mon+s an! art historians, were o#sc$re! #y soot, can!le grease, oil an! !$st, #$t recently, in a colla#orate! effort #etween the S$preme Co$ncil of Anti9$ities an! the American .esearch Center in Egypt, these $ni9$e painting were restore!. ;ne set of the paintings is attri#$te! to a team lea! #y a Coptic master name! 0heo!ore, while the other appears to #e !one #y team with By1antine infl$ence. 0he ol!est paintings !ate to the se%enth an! eighth cent$ries, while the newest are from the thirteenth cent$ry. <n a!!ition to the paintings, woo!wor+ insi!e At. Antony,s Ch$rch was also restore!.
0here is also a li#rary with o%er 1,=&& han!written man$scripts, #$t the Be!o$in ser%ants who pl$n!ere! the monastery $se! many man$scripts for coo+ing f$el. At one time, there m$st ha%e #een a m$ch more e'tensi%e li#rary. St. Antony,s Ca%e )magharah*, where he li%e! as a hermit, is a 2 +m hi+e from the monastery an! /"& m. a#o%e the .e! Sea. <t offers st$nning %iews of the mo$ntains an! the sea, an! the chance to see a wi!e range of #ir! life