The Monastery of St. Macarius was founded in 360 A.D. by St. Macarius the Egyptian, who. was spiritual father to more than four thousand monks of different nationalities-Egyptians, Greeks, Ethiopians, Armenians, Nubians, Asians, Palestinians, Italians, Gauls and Span-lards.
During the restoration of the big Church of St. Macarius, according to its website, the crypt of St. John the Baptist and Elisha the Prophet was discovered below the northern wall of the church
Road workers shouting “Allahu Akbar” threatened to bulldoze the ancient monastery of St. Macarius recently. Brave monks lied in the path of the bulldozers to save St. Macarius.
Archeology News Network reported, via Jihad Watch:
Marking just the latest of a long dispute which arose around a road project threatening to demolish an archaeological site, Coptic monks are literally willing to put their lives on the line.
According to Fides, the project to build a road that should unite the city of Fayoum to an oasis area crossing the territories around the Coptic monastery of St. Macarius, threatens an archaeological area that stretches around a church dating to the fourth century.
Ninety-two kilometers from Cairo, the Monastery of St. Macarius is located in Wadi el-Natrun, the ancient Scetes. In Christian literature, the Scetes refers to one of the three early Christian monastic centers located in the desert of the northwestern Nile Delta.
In addition to the monastery itself, the project also threatens its water supply of the monastery and some cultivated areas belonging to it.
The monks, in recent days, launched an initiative of non-violent resistance. They lied in the path of bulldozers working on the project, led by workers who approached the monastery lands shouting “Allah Akbar.”
The brave monks risked their lives to save the 4th Century monastery from road workers. (Archeology News Network)
