Deir al-Maymun (St Anthony's Outer Mountain)
The Nile-side village of Pispir, where St Anthony lived for some twenty years before retreating to the Red Sea mountains.
Anthony's outer mountain
Deir al-Maymun lies on the east bank of the Nile about 25 kilometres north of Beni Suef. It is identified with Pispir, the "outer mountain" of St Anthony the Great, described by St Athanasius in his Life of Anthony. Before withdrawing to the "inner mountain" in the Eastern Desert near the Red Sea, where the Monastery of St Anthony now stands, Anthony lived here for about twenty years in an abandoned fort, and disciples gathered around him, forming one of the first monastic communities. He continued to return here to receive visitors and disciples after his withdrawal.
The churches
Today Deir al-Maymun is a village with two old Coptic churches. In the Church of St Anthony, the faithful show a cave or cell associated with the saint, a place of devotion for pilgrims. The churches have been rebuilt over the centuries, but the site's association with Anthony makes it an important place of memory for Egyptian monasticism.
Visiting
The village lies off the main roads, on the route between the Red Sea coast via the Kuraymat road and Beni Suef, and can be combined with visits to the Meidum Pyramid or the Fayoum.
Exhibo editorial
For anyone who has visited the Monastery of St Anthony near the Red Sea, Deir al-Maymun is the other half of the story: the Nile-side place where Anthony lived for some twenty years, receiving visitors and disciples, before going deeper into the desert. It's a simple village with two old churches, far from any tourist route.
Ask to see the saint's cell in the Church of St Anthony, sit quietly for a moment, and then look out at the Nile — the world Anthony left behind for the mountains.
How to find it
Deir al-Maymun lies on the east bank of the Nile about 25 km north of Beni Suef, near the Kuraymat road crossing. Ask locally for the village and the Church of St Anthony (Kanisat Anba Antonios).
