Sohag
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General Information
Other Name: -, District: Sohag, State: Upper Region, Egypt
Area: 0 -
Languages Spoken: Arabic
Long Distance Code: -
Importance: -
Best Time to Visit: - to - and -
International Access: -Description
The City of Sohag is the capital of the Sohag governorate. It is also a major Coptic Christian center for Upper Egypt.Sohag is surounded by villages and agricultural activity. It is home to the Church of the Red Monastery (Deir el-Ahmar), a sixth-century Christian church.Location
72 miles south of Asyut.Climate
Hot and humid
North and west of El-Hawawish extends a Christian cemetery used from the fifth to the 15th C. In the vicinity is a Coptic monastery.
During excavations in 1981 the colossal statue of an Egyptian queen, with an estimated total height of 33ft/ 10m, was brought to light.
4mi/6km west of the White Monastery in Sohag is the Red Monastery (Deir el-Ahmar), also known as Deir Abu Bshoi, now enclosed on two sides by modern buildings. The church, built at the same time as the White Monastery, was originally an aisled basilica with finely carved capitals.
Some 15mi/25km north-northwest of Sohag, on the edge of the desert hills, is the ancient White Monastery, also known as Deir Amba Shenuda after its most notable Abbot, Shenute.The monastery, centered on the church (built 440), is surrounded by a high wall of white limestone blocks which gives it something of the aspect of a fortress. The wall and the entrance gateway on the south side have the cavetto cornice familiar in Egyptian temples. The church, entered through a narthex with an apse at the west end, is an aisled basilica with a trilobate sanctuary, consisting of a square domed central area and three apses with semi domes.