The Monastery of St. Simon is located on the west bank of the Nile in the city of Aswan. It is surrounded by the famous cemetery of the Aga Khan, one of the open areas of the year. Religious celebrations and ceremonies are held for four days each December.The monastery is a semi-integrated structure and a unique example of the Bakhoumian monasteries in Egypt, which has survived since its establishment in the fifth century AD, but has been abandoned after being robbed. The monastery recently became a resting place for pilgrims traveling in the region, to become a unique example of the confluence of the Christian and Islamic religions at the same place.
The history of the monastery of St. Simon dates back to the fifth century AD, according to the evidence of tombstones in the tribal area of the monastery, which is currently preserved in the museums of Cairo and dated from 487 AD to 539 AD.
The monastery is located on a high hill, surrounded by a desert from each side, overlooking the eastern face directly on the Nile River, and only 500 meters away from it, a natural fortified, and is one of the most important Bakhoumian monasteries that spread in Upper Egypt, In contrast to Bakhom, commander of the army of Emperor Constantine, who converted to Christianity in 384 AD, and founded these monasteries to collect monks in one spot.The monastery is named by St. Simon, one of the most prominent founders of the monastery, while some call it the monastery of saint "Hadra" in relation to one of the monks who was in the monastery,The monastery was built of local stones, sandstone and basalt, and some quantities of bricks, some of red bricks were used in all its facilities. The monastery is divided into two sections: the eastern building; the main entrance, which is topped by a guard tower, With a length of 14 meters in 4.5 meters, and a height of one meter from the ground, and was dedicated to the new monks and the new poor, to sit on them, and the building has some buildings that were devoted to the sacrifices and the provision of food.