monastery
Kellia ('the Cells')
Kellia, western Nile Delta, Egypt · Africa: Coptic Egypt (supplement)
30.776, 30.369
Attested. Attested by the Apophthegmata, Palladius, and extensive excavation.
Founded around 338 by Amoun, with advice from Anthony, Kellia was a vast settlement of hermit cells between Nitria and Scetis. The theologian Evagrius Ponticus lived here. Excavations have mapped well over a thousand hermitages, many with wall paintings.
Source stance: insider. Monastic literature; archaeology is neutral.
People and groups named here
- Amoun
- Anthony the Great
- Evagrius Ponticus
Sources
- Pleiades place 727141: Kellia
Pleiades Gazetteer (ISAW, NYU). Accessed 2026-11-11.
- Monastery Paintings, Coptic (Kellia section) (Claremont Coptic Encyclopedia)
Claremont Coptic Encyclopedia; The Coptic Encyclopedia (Macmillan 1991), Claremont Colleges Digital Library. Accessed 2026-11-11.
- Kellia (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia contributors. Accessed 2026-11-11.
Further reading
Councils here
None in this list.