Egypt reopens ancient library in Sinai after renovations
Egypt reopened on Saturday an ancient library which holds thousands of centuries-old religious and historical manuscripts at the famed St. Catherine Monastery, a UNESCO World Heritage site, in South Sinai.
The inauguration ceremony was attended by Egyptian and western officials. It comes after three years of restoration work on the eastern side of the library that houses the world's second largest collection of early codices and manuscripts, outnumbered only by the Vatican Library, according to Monk Damyanos, the monastery's archbishop.
"The library is now open to the public and scholars," said Tony Kazamias, an adviser to the archbishop, adding that restoration work is still underway without specifying a completion date.
The ancient library holds around 3,300 manuscripts of mainly Christian texts in Greek, Arabic, Syriac, Georgian, and Slavonic among other languages. It also contains thousands of books and scrolls dating to the 4th century.
