St. Catherine's Monastery on Sinai
As a rule, a vacation in Egypt involves visiting beaches, pyramids, and diving. However, people go to Egypt, or more precisely, to the Sinai Peninsula, not only for this purpose; many go there for purification from sins.
It must be said that pilgrimage trips are no less popular than entertainment tours to Turkey. For most people, pilgrimage tours (visiting holy places) mean enlightenment and approaching the true meaning of all things. As a result of such trips, a person strengthens his faith and is spiritually cleansed. The most in-demand tours are to Egypt, Israel, Cyprus and Greece. Near St. Catherine's Monastery on Sinai there is a kind of hotel. Life there resembles a short stay in a monastery: a strict daily routine, Spartan conditions in the rooms, and work for the benefit of the monastery. While in Egypt, tourists consider it obligatory to climb Mount Moses.
Israel, the Holy Land, is a place where all Orthodox Christians flock. Here is one of the main Christian shrines – the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River. Many people go to Israel to undergo the rite of baptism in the sacred waters of this river. In the Jerusalem Church, they ask for healing from ailments.
The Greek Peloponnese is sanctified by the sufferings of Andrew the First-Called. Tourists flock here first of all. Family couples often go to the island of Euboea to ask Saint Euboea, the patron of children, for protection for their little ones. Mount Athos is a place where women are forbidden to enter. The unbaptized are also not allowed here. On Athos, men attend liturgies in various churches and visit the Vatopedi Monastery, where the icon "Consolation" is kept.
Cyprus is an island of monasteries and caves of prayer. It is called the "island of saints." Their number on Cyprus is very large. Must-see places include the Church of Saint Lazarus; monasteries: Holy Cross, Kykkos, Trooditissa, St. Herakleidios, Machairas, St. Neophytos, St. George, monasteries in Agia Napa and in Omodos.