Coptic monastery of St. Paul in the Egyptian desert. 1991

Located 250 km from Cairo, it is one of the oldest on Earth. It was founded in the 4th century on the place where, according to legend, the first hermit of Christianity, St. Paul. He was buried in a cave turned into a church... now about 50 monks live there. They are all Egyptians.

In the photo: water is rare in the eastern desert, and the monks carefully monitor the condition of their source.

Photo by M. Dyshlyuk and M. Krutikhin TASS

No. Ts68239

03/05/91

Subscriber 12

Circulation 250 copies