Red Monastery

The Basilica of the Red Monastery in Sohag Province is an architectural marvel that exemplifies ancient temples before their original bright colors were scrubbed away by time. Constructed in the fourth century, this ancient temple showcases the evolution of religious sites from the Egyptian to the medieval eras.

Named for the color of its outer walls, the Red Monastery marks a turning point in Mediterranean art and culture. At the time, Egypt was part of the Eastern Roman Empire ruled by Justinian the Great—it was simultaneously ancient and medieval, both Roman and Egyptian.

Outside, the basilica resembled an ancient Egyptian temple to attract the newly Christianized peasantry who had worshipped the "old gods." The church's narthex, or entryway, features massive tapered walls with cavetto moldings.

Inside, in keeping with Greco-Roman tradition, is an explosion of color. Columns and niches were painted in bright, three-dimensional trompe-l’oeil and geometric patterns. As the iconoclasm had not yet begun, the walls were covered in frescos of Jesus and the saints.

The altar area's frescos have survived virtually intact for 1,500 years, largely because it was covered by an interior wall for more than a millennium, hiding and protecting the frescos even after the basilica was abandoned and its roof collapsed.

Today, the Red Monastery is one of the only sites from this period visitors can experience as it was initially designed, unaffected by the centuries of iconoclasm and renovation that have transformed all other ancient churches. An international conservation team recently cleaned the frescos, so the reds and greens flash as brightly as they did in Justinian's day.