Abu Mena, EG
Located about 50 km southwest of Alexandria
Abu Mena was a town, monastery complex, and Christian pilgrimage center in Late Antique Egypt, located about 50 km southwest of Alexandria, near the modern city of New Borg El Arab. Constantine I sent his sick daughter to a shepherd, who reportedly found Menas' body there, leading Constantine to construct a church at the site. The great xenodocheion, a reception area for pilgrims, may have originally been a cemetery. The site was added to UNESCO's World Heritage in Danger list in 2001 and was finally removed in 2025. Menas of Alexandria was martyred in the late 3rd or early 4th century.
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Sources
- Wikidata · CC0
- Wikipedia (en) · CC BY-SA 4.0