Monastery of St. Anthony and St. Paul, Egypt

Nestled in the desolate hills of the Arabian desert amid a landscape of steep cliffs, these are perhaps the oldest monasteries in the world. They can only be reached with an organized trip to Cairo or Hurghada. 
The abbot of the Monastery of St. Anthony is said to have become a monk at the age of 18. At the time, he was traveling in a caravan in the Arabian desert and staying in a secluded cave, where he lived to be 105 years old. He forbade his followers to stand near the cave, forcing them to settle at the foot of the hill.
This is how the foundations of a settlement were laid, which contributed to the creation of the Monastery of St. Anthony. Twin towers with two arches between them adorn the entrance of the monastery, and crosses rise on top of them. The monastery sat empty for some time, until in 1971 the Coptic Pope of Christians, Shenuda III, ordered all monasteries in Egypt to undergo a renaissance. 
This attracts more new monks who take care of the religious home. The oldest building is the church of St. Anthony, which is built over the tomb of the saint. It has housed an impressive number of Coptic frescoes in Egypt, beautifully restored in the 20th century.
From the monastery 1185 steps face the visitor the challenge to reach the cave behind the Monastery of St. Anthony. Inside there is a small chapel with an altar, but in fact the attraction is the medieval graffiti on the walls. 
The other ancient Monastery of St. Paul is more distant and smaller. It was built in and around the cave, where the anchorite Paul lived for 90 years in the III-IV century. The saint got rid of secular society at the age of 16 because he was disgusted enough by the Roman inquisitions. He devoted himself to a monastic life, and when, over the age of ninety, he met death, it was St. Anthony who had come a long way to bury him.
In the church "St. Paul" are scattered a large number of altars, branched candelabra and icons. The relics of the saint are supposed to be placed in a sarcophagus, which is also located in this church. Ostrich eggs are also kept here because of the monks' belief that they symbolize the resurrection of Christ. 
The other church of the monastery is "St. Michael", which has an icon of the Virgin Mary painted by St. Luke. An interesting special facility sits outside the monastery, which the monks used in stressful times to transfer guests and provisions.