The Church was built by the Roman Catholics (Franciscans) in 1882 to replace a smaller Crusader Chapel (12th Century). The Crusaders built a cloister and monastery which was given to the Canons of St. Augustine and which became in 1347 a Franciscan convent. The Church is dedicated to St. Catherine of Alexandria, who was martyred around 310 AD and buried in Mount Sinai. Tradition says that Jesus appeared to her here and predicted how she will be martyred. A Crusader monastery stood at the site in the 12th century.
Inside the church, there is a staircase that lead to an underground system of ancient tombs and caves. Inside these cave complex (beneath the St: Catherine Church) are chapels dedicated to St. Joseph and the infants martyred at the time of Jesus' birth; tombs assigned to the 4th century church father St: Jerome and his disciples. St. Jerome was the first to translate the Holy Bible to Latin. Outside the St. Catherine Church is a cloister, restored in 1948 by Antonio Barluzzi using columns and capitals of the earlier 12th-century monastery existed here. Do also see the modern statues of St. Jerome and St. Catherine.
Inside the church, there is a staircase that lead to an underground system of ancient tombs and caves. Inside these cave complex (beneath the St: Catherine Church) are chapels dedicated to St. Joseph and the infants martyred at the time of Jesus' birth; tombs assigned to the 4th century church father St: Jerome and his disciples. St. Jerome was the first to translate the Holy Bible to Latin. Outside the St. Catherine Church is a cloister, restored in 1948 by Antonio Barluzzi using columns and capitals of the earlier 12th-century monastery existed here. Do also see the modern statues of St. Jerome and St. Catherine.
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