The story
An early Christian pilgrimage city of limestone in the Mariout desert, over the tomb of the martyr Menas.
- 1The ruins of the churches and basilicas
- 2The tomb of the martyr Menas
- 3The old monasteries, houses and workshops
- 4The modern Monastery of Saint Mina next door
UNESCO says the church, baptistry, basilicas, public buildings, streets, monasteries, houses and workshops of this early Christian holy city were built over the tomb of the martyr Menas of Alexandria, who died in AD 296, and that the site shows the growth of an early Christian pilgrimage centre from the 5th to the 7th century AD.
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UNESCO inscribed the site on the World Heritage List in 1979 and on the List of World Heritage in Danger in 2001; it was removed from that list in July 2025, El Watan reported. Youm7 (2024) says the area was registered as an archaeological site by decision 698 of 1956, and that it owes its fame to the tomb of Saint Menas.
The German archaeologist Kaufmann found the site in 1905, according to Arabic Wikipedia. It is often called “Abu Mena, Borg El Arab”, as UNESCO and the press write, but it lies inside El Amreya II District, south of New Borg El Arab city.
