Justinian I ordered Saint Catherine's Monastery built at the foot of Mount Sinai, and the article dates construction to 548 to 565. It names no architect. The monastery encloses the Chapel of the Burning Bush, said to stand where Moses saw the burning bush, and massive fortifications surround it.
The roof has a king post truss, described as the oldest known surviving roof truss in the world. A Fatimid-era mosque was made in 1106 by converting an existing chapel. The library, founded between 527 and 565, is recognized by Guinness World Records as the oldest continuously operating library. It holds the world's second-largest collection of early codices after the Vatican Library, and it reopened after renovation at the end of 2017.
The monastery has the best collection of early icons in the world, including the earliest known Christ Pantocrator. UNESCO listed it in 2002.
Comments