This page is also available in:
العربية (Arabic)
The monastery is located on the edge of the Western Mountain of the city of Edfu in Aswan.
The monastery was present between the sixth and eighth centuries. This was revealed through the language style in the manuscripts which were found in the monastery in 1906 A.D. and date back to the tenth and eleventh centuries. In 1832 A.D, under His Grace Bishop Mikhail; the bishop of Esna, the monastery of Abba Bakhomious in the west of the city of Edfu (on the mountain) was renovated once more.
Prior to its renovation, the monastery consisted of the ancient church which had many cracks in its domes and walls. Some of the walls had also fallen. The road to the monastery was sandy and unsurfaced.
The Churches of the Monastery:
-The Ancient Church
Due to its numerous domes, in 1901 A.D, when mentioning Abba Samuel and the department of architecture in the Institute of Coptic studies, Clarke described it as dating back to the 18th century.
The ancient church currently consists of a square room and a wide nave. It has four square sanctuaries. Between the first and second section (or “choir) of the church is a pillar, underneath which is the body of Saint Abba Bakhomious.
In 1984 A.D, the church was restored, preserving all its ancient features. In 1994 A.D, it was renovated.
-The Church of Saint Mary.
The monastery’s current abbot: Metropolitan Hedra
In the meeting of the Holy Synod on Wednesday the 26th of March 1980, under the leadership of the late H.H. Pope Shenouda III, the monastery of Abba Pakhomious was officially recognized. This made it the first monastery for monks during the papacy of H.H. Pope Shenouda III, and the tenth monastery for monks in the Coptic Orthodox Church.
