Monastery of the Syrians Wadi Natrun - Deir el-Suryan
The most accessible of the monasteries is the Deir el-Suryan, a sombre colored building surrounded by palms. It was founded in the sixth C. and purchased in the eighth C. by a wealthy and pious Syrian merchant named Tekrit for monks from Syria. Like the other monasteries in the Wadi Natrun, it was several times devastated by Berber raiders in the ninth C., and in the 14th C. it was visited by a devastating plague. In the 16th C. the monastery, then almost totally abandoned, was taken over by Coptic monks, who still occupy it.
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Deir el-Suryan - Church of el-Adra
The monastery has two churches and a small chapel. The large Church of el-Adra dates in part from the 10th century. The excellent frescos in the choir, the carved wooden choir screen and a number of stucco reliefs show techniques and ornament characteristic of Eastern (and Islamic) art in the medieval period. The church has many icons depicting saints of the Wadi Natrun, a fine iconostasis and a doorway with ivory inlays.
Deir el-Suryan - Qasr
At one end of the monastery is the Qasr (Keep), with monks' cells, store rooms and a kitchen for use in the event of a siege. From the top there is a fine view of the Deir Amba Bshoi.
Deir el-Suryan - St Mary's Church
The Sitt Miriyam Church has a number of fine icons. The monastery's valuable library, which contained early Syriac manuscripts and important Arabic and Coptic works, was dispersed in the mid 19th C. to Britain, the Vatican and Cairo.
