Wadi Natrun - Deir Amba Baramus

6mi/10km northwest of the Deir el-Suryan, in a totally isolated situation, is the Deir Amba Baramus, said to have been founded by Maximus and Domitius, sons of the Emperor Valentinian (364-375). The monks in this monastery observe a very strict rule. Within the walls (built in the ninth C. after a devastating Berber raid) are four churches. The large Church of the Virgin has a fine painted iconostasis. The smaller Church of St Macarius has a 13th C. pulpit. The monastery also has a qasr, the usual monks' cells and offices and a garden.