The story of St.Mina and his monastery :

St.Mena was born to a family from Nikeos,Capital of Upper Egypt,his father was a governor of the African state ,his mother Ophomea was barren and she implored Saint Mary to intercede with Christ The Lord on her behalf to bear a child.'Amen', came a voice from the Virgin's icon ,in 286 AD. she got Mena and brought him up a devout Christian ,

he joined the Roman Military and after his father's death ,he was appointed by the governor as his deputy army leader.

On the Roman Emperor Diocletian denial of Christ ,Mena distributed his wealth and left for the desert in pursuit of a hermit life of prayer.five years later he saw martyrs crowned in open heaven and decided to return home to confess his faith in Christ.Not swayed by persecution .St.Mena was beheaded in 309 A.C,the persecuting leader then threw the saint's body into the fire where it stayed untouched for three days.

Later the body was moved to Mariot in western desert near Alexandria .As a result of many miracles worked through his body ,a city developed around the shrine of st.Mena .

In 1959 ,Pope Kyrillos VI established the modern monastery of st.Mena next to the remains of the historical city ,and the area has since started to regain its former glory . The remains of the city was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site

the new monastery is a Coptic Orthodox monastery located in the Western Desert near Alexandria contains several churches ,the most famous the building of Cathederal of St.Mena which its consecration was on Monday 10 January 2005,one of the biggest cathedral in north Africa .