Chapels in a remote area of Mount Sinai, taken from a promontory high above. In the centre is the Chapel of Saint Gregory of Sinai, next to a twisted almond tree. In the distance can be seen the Chapel of Saint John the Forerunner. To the left, ruins of an ancient cell emerge into the sunlight.
To what time period do these particular chapels date? Approximately how many total chapels are in the area surrounding St. Catherine’s and how many are in the actual monastery?
There are nine chapels around the basilica, side chapels to the great central church. There are another ten chapels within the monastery walls.
The chapel that is in ruins (in the photograph, to the left) was built from very large stones, a sign of its antiquity. Could it date from the sixth century? The chapel of Saint Gregory was constructed some centuries later, but it is likely there was a chapel there from ancient times, since there is a well next to the chapel, and where there is water, you can have a garden, a chapel, and monastic cells. The present chapel of Saint John the Baptist is more recent, perhaps nineteenth century. But it is also very likely a more recent chapel constructed at the site of an earlier church.
Very interesting. Τhanks Father Justin!