FINAL REPORT “Red Monastery Nave Conservation Project

- FINAL REPORT

“Red Monastery Nave Conservation Project: Multidisciplinary Capacity Building (Enhancing Visitation Through Information)”

Dina Bakhoum

2015-2018

Cultural Heritage Tourism Project in Egypt (APS) USAID Agreement No. 263-A-15-00007

Awarded to THE AMERICAN RESEARCH CENTER IN EGYPT (ARCE) Address: 909 N. Washington Street, Suite 320, Alexandria, VA 22 314, Tel: (703) 721 3479

By the USAID Program Office of Productive Sector Development / Office of the Environment / USAID / Egypt

In collaboration with the United States Agency for International development and the Egyptian Ministry of State for Antiquities.

The American Research Center in Egypt

The Red Monastery Conservation Project, Sohag, Upper Egypt

Promoting Visitation to the Red Monastery and the surrounding sites in Sohag

2015-2018

Report by: Dina Bakhoum Engineer and art historian, specialized in cultural heritage conservation and management

[This report is produced by Dina Bakhoum in her capacity as ARCE’s consultant and Heritage Management Specialist for the Red Monastery Conservation Project under the USAID-funded cooperative agreement number AID-263-A-15-00007.] This report covers part of program 7: “Multidisciplinary Capacity Building” (Enhancing Visitation Through Information)

Introduction:

Promoting visitation to the Red Monastery, as well as the White Monastery and other surrounding sites in Sohag is a matter that requires working with different interest groups including members of the local community, the clergy, the scholars, the different government bodies, etc. Work activities with these interest groups compliment each other.

Local visitors (from churches all over Egypt) form a major group of visitors to the monastery. In another report, capacity-building courses carried out by ARCE’s consultant for women from the local community as well as monks and men from the Red and White Monasteries discusses how they contribute to promoting visitation to the site and how they assist in explaining the history, art, architecture and conservation work of the Red Monastery’s historic church to the local visitors (including children) as well as international visitors. During these courses and meetings with the clergy at the Red Monastery, the needs of visitors and what they expect during the visit are also among the subjects discussed.

In this report, other activities with tour guides, interested scholars (researchers, etc. and others generally interested in heritage), foreign visitors, etc. is discussed.

Egyptian visitors at the Red Monastery with Abuna Shenouda Visit by the Friends of Manial Palace and the friends of the Coptic Photo by Matjaž Kačičnik © ARCE, November 2015 Museum to the Red Monastery Photo by: Matjaž Kačičnik © ARCE, December 2016

Report by Dina Bakhoum, June 2018 1/27 Tour guides from Sohag: With the help of Abuna Antonious and one community member tour guides from Sohag have been identified. During meetings with a tour-guide from Sohag it became clear that tour guides from Sohag do not generally have work in Soahg, as there is little tourism industry there. While some have indicated that they would like to get involved in taking tourists to the Red Monastery, their availability in Sohag is quite limited during the touristic season as most of them are hired by tourist companies to go and work in Luxor, Aswan and Hurghada.

Tour guides from Luxor: In February 2017, a meeting at the tour guides syndicate was organized through ARCE’s consultant and Yasser Amin, a tour guide from Luxor. During the meeting, Michael Jones gave a presentation introducing ARCE’s work all over Egypt and then focusing on the Red Monastery. The meeting was very well attended and the tour guides demonstrated interest in bringing tourists to Sohag.

During these meeting as well as a follow up meeting that took place in Luxor, the tour guides explained that day trips organized for tourist staying in Luxor and/or Aswan would sometimes go to Abydos but due to some issues with convoys they would not continue to Sohag.

In preparation for this visit, a follow up meeting at the tour guides syndicate in Luxor took place in March 2018. During this meeting, the consultant met with the syndicate’s president and a number of tour guides from Luxor and organized the trip with them. A presentation on the Red Monastery was also given. This was followed up by a discussion (in a form of exercise) asking the tour guides to come up with possible itineraries for visiting the Red Monastery and other near-by sites in Sohag.

During the same visit, the consultant attended a presentation regarding the Holy Family trail, which was attended by a number of tour guides not only from Luxor but also from all over Egypt. After the presentation, the consultant had a follow up meeting with some of the tour guides dealing with this trail; in this meeting the consultant suggested that visitors interested in the Holy Family trail should be encouraged to visit other sites not on the trail but that are also important religiously, historically and artistically, such as for example the Sohag area with its Red and White Monasteries, the Luxor area with its Nagada monasteries as well as the Esna monasteries, the Aswan area with its Anba Hadra monastery, etc.

As for the visit and as agreed with the tour guides, in April 2018, ARCE’s consultant in collaboration with ARCE and Abuna Antonious organized a trip for the tour guides from Luxor to the White and Red Monasteries. The trip was also coordinated with the inspectors of the Ministry of Antiquities.

The visit started at the White Monastery. The consultant in coordination with one of the monks from the White Monastery (Abuna Sa’ofilos) toured the group around the monastery. The visit continued to the Red Monastery, where the church’s history, art and architecture were explained along with the conservation work carried out through ARCE’s - USAID’s funded - project. After the visit, the group was invited for lunch organized by the Red monastery. This was followed by a meeting with Abuna Antonious in which he

Report by Dina Bakhoum, June 2018 2/27 explained the history of monasticism in the area, his appreciation of the conservation efforts carried out by ARCE and his wish to have the monastery visited by a greater number of Egyptians and foreigners. Both, the group and Abuna, iterated on the value of the monastery and the importance of placing it on the tourism map of Egypt. The visit was well received by the tour guides, who shared their photos on their personal Facebook pages as well as that of the Luxor tour guides syndicate. During the meeting several possibilities of one to two day trips to visit the Red and White Monasteries, Abydos, Akhmim and other near-by sites were discussed. The tour guides saw the potential of this visit as an alternative trip to those they usually offer from Luxor.

Report by Dina Bakhoum, June 2018 3/27 Meetings in Luxor:

The tour guides syndicate in Luxor Photo by Dina Bakhoum, February 2017

Michael Jones presenting ARCE’s work (in Egypt and at the Red Monastery) at the tour guides syndicate in Luxor. Photo by Dina Bakhoum, February 2017

Report by Dina Bakhoum, June 2018 4/27

Group photo after the presentation

Follow up meeting with other tour guides in Luxor

Report by Dina Bakhoum, June 2018 5/27 Visit to the Red and White Monasteries

Visit of the Luxor tour guides to the White and Red Monasteries, 11 April 2018 Screenshot from the Facebook page of the tour guides syndicate of Luxor where they are thanking Abuna Antonious, ARCE and its consultant (Dina Bakhoum) for organizing the visit to both monasteries.

Report by Dina Bakhoum, June 2018 6/27

The tour guides from Luxor with Abuna Sa’ofilos at the White Monastery

Report by Dina Bakhoum, June 2018 7/27

Group photo of the tour guides from Luxor at the White Monastery

Visit of the Luxor tour guides to the White and Red Monasteries, 11 April 2018 Screenshot from the Facebook page of the tour guides syndicate of Luxor showing the start of the visit at the Red Monastery

Report by Dina Bakhoum, June 2018 8/27

The tour guides from Luxor in the Tri-conch of the Red Monastery’s historic church

After lunch, offered by the Red Monastery, the tour guides meet Abuna Antonious

Report by Dina Bakhoum, June 2018 9/27

The president of the Luxor tour guides syndicate, Mr. Mostafa Rifa’i, with Abuna Antonious The tour guides gave the monastery an appreciation plate with the syndicate’s logo

Group photo of the tour guides from Luxor with Abuna Antonious and ARCE’s consultant at the Red Monastery ‘s guests hall

Report by Dina Bakhoum, June 2018 10/27

Tour guides from Luxor visiting the nave of the Red Monastery with Abuna Antonious

Group photo of the tour guides from Luxor with Abuna Antonious and ARCE’s consultant in the nave of the Red Monastery

Report by Dina Bakhoum, June 2018 11/27

Tour guides from Cairo and other interest groups: Several meetings and discussions about the Red Monastery have been taking place with tour guides from Cairo as well as other interested colleagues. As a result of these meetings, trips to Sohag and the Red Monastery have been organized. ARCE assisted in the organization of the trip by ensuring that one of the Abunas at the monastery will meet the group and in many cases, ARCE’s team members were present to explain the history of the church and the conservation work carried out. What was clearly noted is that in recent years, especially after ARCE’s and despite of certain security concerns, more visitors indicated their wish to see the monastery after knowing more about it from ARCE’s team members through discussions, meetings and also lectures. Moreover, visitors who share their experience on Facebook have encouraged more visitation to the monastery.

The groups who visited the monastery included (but were not limited to): - a group formed by friends of the Manial Palace and friends of the Coptic museum - employees of GIZ who had work in Sohag - several groups from Roteract (often organized in collaboration with Abuna Antonious) - members of foreign archaeological missions working in Upper Egypt (Basel University working in Luxor, IFAO mission working in Bawit, British Museum tour, German mission working in Athribis, and others) - individual tour guides and others interested in heritage

Several individual foreign visitors and other Egyptian visitors have also visited the monastery during the course of the project. Some came independently and other had a tour guide with them. When a tour guide accompanied the visit, his or her contact details were taken and it was agreed that in Q1-2018 a workshop will be organized by ARCE in Cairo to meet different tour guides, provide them with information on the Red Monastery and brainstorm with them on ways to continue promoting visitation to the monastery.

A meeting entitled: “Promoting Visitation to the Red Monastery, Sohag, and Nearby Sites” was organized by ARCE’s consultant in collaboration with ARCE. It took place on the 22nd of February 2018. The aim of this meeting was to present ARCE’s long-term project at the Red Monastery and discuss means to promote visitation and responsible tourism to the monastery and other sites nearby.

A number of tour guides were invited to attend this initial meeting and brainstorming session. The selection of this group of tour guides was for the following reasons: a) they have visited the Red Monastery before (either with a group or individually) and have indicated their wish to know more about it, b) they have collaborated with ARCE on different tours before and have good experience in guiding specialized groups to a variety of heritage sites, c) have experience in organizing trips to a wide range of visitors. In addition, some of ARCE’s staff joined the meeting and participated in the discussion and the group activities.

Report by Dina Bakhoum, June 2018 12/27 List of those who attended the meeting (excluding ARCE’s staff):

Mrs. Loiuse St. Laurent Mrs. Hala El Sayed Mr. Mina Nashed Mr. Mahmoud Salem Mrs. Dina Ezz al-Din Mrs. Rawya Ismail Mr. Anwar Abdelkarim Mrs. Jocelyn Gohary Mr. Emad Edouard

The schedule of the meeting and issues discussed:

10:00-10:15 Tea and coffee

10:15-10:30 Welcome by ARCE’s Egypt Director, Dr. Louise Bertini

Followed by: Introduction on the objectives of the meeting and discussion of the program by ARCE’s Associated Director, Dr. Michael Jones and ARCE’s Consultant, Eng. Dina Bakhoum

10:30-10:45 Introductions of the participants

10:45-11:30 Presentation: Introduction to ARCE's conservation projects in Egypt focusing on the Red Monastery

11:30-12:00 Discussion

12:00-12:30 Group work

12:30-13:30 Lunch break

13:30-14:00 Group work (continued)

14:00-14:30 Presentations and discussion of group work

14:30-15:00 Presentation and discussion: Tourism opportunities around Sohag

15:00-15:30 Presentation and discussion: ARCE’s recent activities to promote visitation to the Red Monastery

15:30-16:00 Conclusions of the meeting and future plans

The meeting started by a welcome note by Dr. Louise Bertini, ARCE’s Egypt Director, followed by a brief introduction of the meeting and its objectives by Michael Jones and Dina Bakhoum. After the participants introduced themselves and got to know each other, the meeting started.

Report by Dina Bakhoum, June 2018 13/27

Michael Jones gave a presentation on ARCE’s conservation projects in Egypt focusing on the Red Monastery. This was followed by a question and answer session.

After that the participants were divided into three groups composed of tour guides and ARCE’s staff. They were given the task of developing one itinerary (or more) for visiting the Red Monastery and nearby sites. They were required to mention the length of the proposed trip, the places included in the visit, how much time is needed for each site, the routes to take (bus, train, plane), places to stay and the available / lacking facilities.

After lunch, the groups presented their itineraries. The itineraries suggested were reasonable and feasible to do; they included ones that ARCE has also explored. Among the most popular itineraries is the one from Luxor (which includes Akhmim, Abydos and Dendara). Other itineraries were also presented focusing for example on religious groups, who could explore more Christian monasteries in the area, etc. The participants’ attention was drawn to other sites such as Girga (with its Ottoman mosques and architecture).

When discussing which routes to take (especially between Luxor and Sohag and Sohag and Girga), the issue of the police convoy was a major concern. Other options from Cairo were also discussed, using Sohag airport (some of the participants were not aware that there is an airport in Sohag).

The last part of the meeting was dedicated to informing the participants with the activities ARCE has been carrying out so far in order to promote visitation to the Red Monastery and its nearby sites, including identifying other interesting sites near Sohag as well as facilities such as restaurants and lodging (possibly also in the monastery). The capacity building courses carried out by ARCE for the members of the local community and the clergy to enable them to explain the monastery’s history, art, architecture and conservation to the visitors was presented. The tour guides were also informed with ARCE’s plan to produce panels (and possibly a movie) to be placed at the monastery as well as the brochures and booklets, which the monastery has produced and is updating. Samples of brochures produced by ARCE for a variety of sites were handed over to the participants and the idea that such brochures could be downloaded from the internet was also discussed.

Final remarks: As noted above, promoting visitation to Sohag in general and to the Red Monastery in particular requires strong collaboration between different interest groups. The Red and White Monasteries as well as a number of other heritage sites in and around Sohag allow for interesting two to three days trips. In addition the Ministry of Antiquities have finished the Sohag Museum and it should be opening soon. The existence of Sohag airport facilitates travel to and from Sohag; other travel options do also exist. The main difficulty for foreign tourists might be the convoy between the sites in Upper Egypt, but the experience demonstrates that this should not be a problem if the visit is planned and organized with the security in advance. There is, however, a need for more facilities (restaurants and hotels), but these seem to be also developing.

Report by Dina Bakhoum, June 2018 14/27 Meeting at ARCE

Meeting with tour guides at ARCE’s office-Cairo Welcome note by Dr. Louise Bertini. Photo by Dina Bakhoum, February 2018

Meeting with tour guides at ARCE’s office-Cairo Presentation by Dr. Michael Jones. Photo by Dina Bakhoum, February 2018

Report by Dina Bakhoum, June 2018 15/27

Meeting with tour guides at ARCE’s office-Cairo Group work and discussion: developing itineraries. Photo by Dina Bakhoum, February 2018

Report by Dina Bakhoum, June 2018 16/27

Meeting with tour guides at ARCE’s office-Cairo Group work and discussion: developing itineraries. Photo by Dina Bakhoum, February 2018

Report by Dina Bakhoum, June 2018 17/27

Meeting with tour guides at ARCE’s office-Cairo Presenting the results of the group work. Photo by Dina Bakhoum, February 2018

Report by Dina Bakhoum, June 2018 18/27 The following section contains photos of some of visits by different groups to the Red Monastery:

Visit by the Friends of Manial Palace and the friends of the Coptic Museum to the Red Monastery Photo by: Matjaž Kačičnik © ARCE, December 2016

Abuna Maximus and Abuna Shenouda from the Red Monastery guiding the visit of the group of the Friends of Manial Palace and the Friends of the Coptic Museum Photo by Matjaž Kačičnik © ARCE, December 2016

Report by Dina Bakhoum, June 2018 19/27

Michael Jones leading the visit of the team members of the Basel University mission in Luxor Photo by Dina Bakhoum, March 2017

Alberto Sucato explain the painting conservation work carried during the visit of the team members of the Basel University mission in Luxor. Photo by Dina Bakhoum, March 2017

Report by Dina Bakhoum, June 2018 20/27

Abuna Antonious, Michael Jones and the Italian conservators welcoming a group of visitors (foreigners and Egyptians, including Dr. Ashraf Iskander Sadek, Professor of Egyptology and Coptic Studies, France) Photo by Dina Bakhoum, March 2017

Independent visitors and their tour guide at the Red Monastery after receiving a tour

Report by Dina Bakhoum, June 2018 21/27

Michael Jones touring a group of visitors and colleagues from Cairo at the White Monastery and later the Red Monastery. Photo by Dina Bakhoum, November 2017

Abuna Antonious welcoming the group at the Red Monastery’s historic church

Report by Dina Bakhoum, June 2018 22/27

Following the visit by colleagues to the Red Monastery in November 2017, Tarek Swelim, a prominent tour guide, who joined the tour shares a video and photos of the trip on Facebook (Nov. 2017)

Another colleague, Yasmine El Dorghamy, interested in visiting the Monastery, expressing her happiness being there and sharing photos of the visit on Facebook (Dec. 2017)

Report by Dina Bakhoum, June 2018 23/27

Visit by the German mission working at Athribis to the Red Monastery in December 2017 (photo by Ole Herslund, team member, posted on Facebook)

Report by Dina Bakhoum, June 2018 24/27 Visitors satisfaction questionnaire and follow up with visitors: During the end of 2015 and early 2016, ARCE with the help of the women who took the capacity building course, has conducted a visitors satisfaction questionnaire and report, which was submitted for USAID. After this activity was concluded further follow up on the matter took place; visitors who come to the monastery are asked to provide their feedback and suggestions to ARCE. These are discussed at ARCE and with the monks in order see how to best accommodate for the visitors’ wishes and plan for the future visitation of the site.

Conducting the visitors’ satisfaction questionnaire Photos by Dina Bakhoum, November 2015

Activities taken by the monastery and ARCE:

The management of the Red Monastery has been taking several actions to ensure that the visitors’ experience to the monastery is satisfactory. Among the actions taken are: construction of new toilets, opening of gift shop (products are yet to be improved and linked to the art and architecture of the monastery), production and printing of small brochures on the monastery (these are being update in collaboration with ARCE), among other activities.

The historic church with its nave is open to visitors all day. As for the tri-conch, the monastery has set opening hours in the morning from 9:00 – 13:00 and evening from 18:00-21:00 with the exception of Friday and Sunday. Despite of the set opening hours, visitors who announce their visit in advance can enter the church when it is suitable for them (depending on their trip). Exceptions are also made for independent visitors (especially those coming from abroad or out of Sohag). Signs with this information were placed in the church.

A link and QR code leading to the webpage with the 360 view of the interior of the tri- conch taken by Matjaž Kačičnik was also placed on the door. https://www.360cities.net/image/red-monastery-sohag-egypt

The clergy of the Red Monastery has produced a number of small brochures on the monastery and have started to update these brochures. These brochures will be printed at the monastery’s press. Moreover, it is suggested that the brochure be downloadable from the Internet so that visitors could easily have access to it even if the monastery runs out of prints.

A movie of the 3D laser scan was produced in 2015 through an AEF grant. It documents ARCE’s conservation project over a period of 12 years with funding from USAID. The movie was placed online by ARCE. https://youtu.be/yX8x4jYzenI

ARCE is also produce information panels to be placed in different locations in the historic church.

Report by Dina Bakhoum, June 2018 25/27

The sign placed at the entrance of the tri-conch area indicating the opening hours of the interior of the church and providing the QR code and link to the 360 view of the church.

http://www.360cities.net/image/red-monastery-sohag-egypt

QR code and link to the tri-conch area of the Red Monastery’s historic church 360 view by: Matjaž Kačičnik

Report by Dina Bakhoum, June 2018 26/27