Rutho Monastery

Rutho, more commonly spelled Raitho, Monastery is a 4th century monastic site in the town of El Tur on the Sinai Peninsula.

Like the other tentative list sites on the Sinai Peninsula, there is very little information about the monastery (which is now a dependency of St. Catherine’s Monastery). Like most other monasteries in Egypt (other than Abu Mena), there is generally a modern working church/monastery and nearby ruins of the historic monastery.

When traveling from St. Catherine’s back to Sharm, I asked the driver to stop by El Tur. You can see the old monastic site from the road, and I took a few pictures. However, the guards said that the site was closed and were not happy that I was taking pictures. I’d suggest calling ahead, but (like most things in Sinai) it’s not clear who to call or how to arrange for a visit. The guide I used to hike in the Sinai had never had a request to visit Rutho before.

Date of Visit: January 2021

Rating:  There are a number of 4th through 6th century monastic sites in the Southern Sinai on the tentative list, but none compare to the listed site of St. Catherine’s Monastery, which is built around the supposed burning bush at the foot of Mt. Sinai. I could see perhaps the current listing for St. Catherine’s being expanded to include its various chapels and dependencies that dot the south Sinai region, but there would need to …