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[[Image:Stminamonas1.jpg|thumb|Today, thousands of pilgrims continue to flock from all over the world to receive spiritual and physical healing at the revived monastery, which has once again become "Lourdes of the East".]]
The late [[Cyril VI of Alexandria (Coptic)|Pope Kyrillos VI]] established this [[Church of Alexandria (Coptic)|Coptic Orthodox]] monastery in 1959 in commemoration of [[Menas|Saint Mina (Menas)]], his [[patron saint]], in an isolated desert area very close to the archaeological site and historical city of Abu Mena in Mariut, near Alexandria, Egypt.
Abu Mena is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and was once an important Christian [[pilgrimage]] site during the 4th to 7th cent. A.D. Numerous little clay bottles (ampullae), on which Saint Mina's name and picture are engraved, were discovered by archeologists in diverse countries around the world, such as Heidelberg, Germany; Milan, Italy; Dalmatia, Croatia; Marseille, France; Dengla, Sudan; and Jerusalem. These pottery ampullae (small holy water and oil flasks brought from pilgrimage places as a souvenir, and mass-produced in Early Byzantine times) come from Abu Mena, near Alexandria in Egypt.
