Saint Anthony Monastery

This is considered to be the first monastery in the history of the world! Built by Anthony the Great after his parents died and he gave away all his wealth, he hiked far away up to the hills to isolate himself for 20 years to communicate with God. He took up an Ancient Egyptian temple built by Pharaohs and converted it into this monastery. It has been a site of significant importance to Coptic Christians, with millions of pilgrims visiting the site each year and has produced 12 of the 118 popes of Alexandria.