Start your Private Full-Day Red Sea Monasteries Tour with a hotel pickup in Cairo or Giza. Meet our Egypt Mo Tours. expert Egyptology tour guide / driver and then travel east toward the Red Sea coast by air-conditioned minivan. Gaze at Egypt’s Eastern desert on route, and hear about the history of both St. Anthony’s and St. Paul’s monasteries on route. Two of the world’s oldest Coptic Christian monasteries, these holy retreats were founded in the 4th and 5th century respectively, and lie nestled in the Red Sea mountains. After roughly three hours on the road, stop to visit the monasteries in turn, enjoying free time to explore their churches, buildings and gardens independently. Walk into walled St. Anthony’s Monastery, thought to be the world’s oldest working monastery, and discover how it was established by disciples of the saint, who lived as a hermit in a cave above the site.