The Saint Catherine Foundation raises funds and awareness for the essential works needed to conserve, preserve, study and share the unique heritage offered by St Catherine’s Monastery in Sinai, Egypt. The Monastery is home to both the world’s largest collection of Byzantine icons and one of the most important collections of Christian manuscripts in existence, second in historical and spiritual significance only to that of the Vatican. A UNESCO world heritage site, St Catherine's stands as a testimony to mutual understanding among Christians, Jews and Muslims.
In 1995, His Majesty King Charles III, then HRH Prince of Wales, visited the Monastery, bringing attention to this ‘great spiritual treasure’ and its need to be preserved for future generations. Since its inception in 1996, the London-based Saint Catherine Foundation, together with the American Associates of the Saint Catherine Foundation and the Swiss Friends of the Saint Catherine Foundation, has undertaken vital preservation projects at St Catherine’s and has supported and promoted public research and education into and around the Monastery’s library, architecture, icons and treasures.