If Monasticism evidently first started in Egypt before any where in the world, Wadi El Natron was the first to have a community of monks. The community reached some time in the 7th century about 70 000 monks. In the 9th-10th centaury they reached 120 000 monks.  One of the monk from St. Beshoy monastery says”. The number of monasteries reached some time in the 17^th century 300 monasteries. The oldest existence of the monks recoded at the 3^rd century. The oldest built monastery dates back to the 4^th century. Still in some of the present monasteries you could see parts that go back to the 4^th century.

The idea of this monasticism first started with St. Fronthonious and his group from Alexandria. They abandoned luxurious life and went out in the desert in individual cells and caves there was in the middle of the 2^nd c.  However The first one that put rolls of monasticism and law for monks to follow was St. Anthonious in the 3^rd c. the first hermit to build them a monastery was St. Bakhomious in the beginning of the 4^th c.

The life of these monks is an episode of spiritual straggle. Most of them eat only twice a day. Some of them fasted till sun set every day till it became a style of life. Some of them fasted form a week to another. Or even for 40 days!!! Some of them kept the gospel by heart. They abandoned the world to find the pleasure in a spiritual one. It is completely a different world.