Deir Abu Maqar (the Monastery of St. Maccarius) lies roughly 8km southeast of neir Anba Bishoi and can be seen to the west of the Cairo-Alexandria desert road efrom Point about 129km from Alexandria or 86km from Cairo). Tlie monastery is ordinarily closed to visitors.

The foundation of Deir Abu Maqar is associated with the life of St. Maccarius the Great (300-390 AD) and marks tlie beginning of monastic life in Wadi an-Natrun. It is believed that an angel led St. Maccarius to a rock and ordered him to build a church there. In spite of the monastic community that he founded, St. Maccarius remained a religious hermit throughout his life and lived in a eel! connected by a tunnel to a small cave. Virtually none of the original building remains. In the beginning of the 11 th century, the monastery became the refuge of monks fleeing Muslim persecution. During the Middle Ages, the monastery was famous for its library, which remained intact until European marauders discovered the treasures in the 17th century and removed them to European libraries.