city
Abu Mena
Abu Mena, Maryut desert, Egypt · Africa: Coptic Egypt (supplement)
30.842, 29.667
Attested. The site and the pilgrimage are archaeologically attested. The legend of Menas is hagiographic.
Abu Mena grew around the tomb of the martyr Menas into the largest Christian pilgrimage city of late-antique Egypt, with great basilicas, baths and hostels. Clay flasks ('Menas ampullae') carried its holy water across the Mediterranean world. It is a World Heritage site listed as in danger.
Source stance: neutral. Archaeology; the martyr legend is insider hagiography.
People and groups named here
- Menas (martyr)
Sources
- Abu Mena (UNESCO World Heritage List no. 90)
UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Accessed 2026-11-11.
- Abu Mina (Claremont Coptic Encyclopedia)
Claremont Coptic Encyclopedia; The Coptic Encyclopedia (Macmillan 1991), Claremont Colleges Digital Library. Accessed 2026-11-11.
- Pleiades place 727105: Deir Abou Menas
Pleiades Gazetteer (ISAW, NYU). Accessed 2026-11-11.
Further reading
Councils here
None in this list.