Which monastery-fortress in Sinai preserves one of the world’s oldest continuously operating Christian libraries?

Saint Catherine’s Monastery in Sinai preserves one of the world’s oldest continuously operating Christian libraries.

The monastery was built around the traditional site of the Burning Bush at the foot of Mount Sinai. Emperor Justinian I ordered its fortified enclosure in the sixth century, and the complex has remained an active monastery for many centuries.

Its library contains important Greek, Syriac, Arabic, Georgian, and other manuscripts. The monastery also preserves a major collection of Byzantine icons, including encaustic icons from late antiquity.

Saint Catherine’s is sometimes described simply as a church, but it is a walled monastic complex with a basilica at its center and substantial defensive architecture. Its remote location helped protect manuscripts and artworks that were lost elsewhere.