Monastery of Saint Fana

Monastery of Saint Fana

Location within Egypt
Monastery information
Other names	Deir Abu Fanah
Established	12th century
Dedicated to	Saint Fana
Diocese	Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria
People
Important associated figures	Pope Theodosius III of Alexandria Pope Matthew I of Alexandria
Site
Location	Qasr Hur, Minya Governorate
Country	Egypt
Coordinates	28°23′34″N 30°26′36″E / 28.3929°N 30.4432°E / 28.3929; 30.4432
Public access	Yes

The Monastery of Saint Fana is a Coptic Orthodox monastery. It is named after Saint Fana, also known as Bane (c. 354–395), Coptic Christian hermit. The monastery is sometimes called the Monastery of Abu Fanah and is also known as the Monastery of the Cross, due to the presence of many beautifully decorated crosses inside its church.

The monastery is situated in the Libyan Desert, not far from the cultivated land of the Nile. The monastery is located in Minya Governorate about 300 km south of Cairo, northwest of Hermopolis around 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) from the village of Qasr Hur and east of the village of Beni Khaled.

The monastery was most likely built around the burial site of Saint Fana. His tomb was found during excavations of an international team representing seven European academic institutions and led by Austrian scholar Prof. Dr. Helmut Buschhausen in 1992.

The 12th-century historian Abu al-Makarim mentions the church of Saint Fana, which was restored by al-Rashid Abu Fadl. Egyptian historian of the 14th–15th century al-Maqrizi wrote about the monastery's fine architecture.

The history of the Patriarchs of Alexandria mentions the monastery of Saint Fana twice, first in relation to the election of Pope Theodosius III of Alexandria of the Coptic Orthodox Church, 1294–1300 and second to the childhood of Pope Matthew I of Alexandria, 1378–1408.

In pre-Islamic times, the monastery reportedly numbered some 1000 monks. The monastery's numbers had drastically dwindled before the arrival of Islam in the seventh century. Al-Maqrizi reports that during his day, the monastery held only two monks. The French Jesuit priest Father Michel Marie Jullien (1827–1911) reported that the priest of the neighboring village Qasr Hur had cleared the church of debris and used the church for the Divine Liturgy.