Ride a camel to St. Simeon’s Monastery on a private, 3.5-hour tour on Aswan’s Elephantine Island. Glimpse faint traces of fresco paintings as you explore the 7th-century site, and take in stark views from the fortified walls. Learn the story of the monks that used Elephantine Island as a basecamp for missionary trips into Nubia, and find graffiti left by Islamic pilgrims during their long journeys to Mecca.
Hotels in Aswan
8:30am (later departures are available until 3:00pm if required, please advise at time of booking)
Approximately ~ 3 hours
Returns to original departure point
If you cancel at least 7 day(s) in advance of the scheduled departure, there is no cancellation fee. If you cancel between 3 and 6 day(s) in advance of the scheduled departure, there is a 50 percent cancellation fee. If you cancel within 2 day(s) of the scheduled departure, there is a 100 percent cancellation fee.
The monastery was given the name St Simeon by archaeologists and travelers, but earlier Arabic and Coptic sources called it Anba Hatre (Hidra, Hadri, Hadra), after an anchorite who was consecrated a bishop of Syene (now Aswan) by Patriarch Theophilus (385-412 AD).
Anba Hatre married at the age of eighteen. Tradition says that just after the wedding, he encountered a funeral procession which inspired him to preserve his chastity and later become a disciple of Saint Baiman.
After eight years of ascetic practices under the supervision of his teacher, he retired to the desert and applied himself to the study of the life of Saint Antony. He died during the time of Theodosius I.
