Dedicated to the Virgin
of Baramous, Deir El-Baramous (also named the Monastery of the Romans) is
probably the first monastery established in the Wadi El-Natron. The tradition
of the place says that the monastery was built in the site where Saint Macarius
lived.
The name 'Baramous'– which means "That of the roman"– comes from a
group of Romans who went to live in the monastery as early as St. Macarius himself,
and on the place of their cells, after their death, a chapel was built.
The monastery was identified also as the Monastery of Saint Moses the Black,
who was an Ethiopian repented criminal, killed in the 5th century, during the
attack of the nomads.
Like the other buildings in the area, the monastery was damaged throughout the
attacks of the desert nomads and was restored several times.
In the 9th century, Patriarch Shenouda II built the walls around the monastery
to protect it from the nomads' attacks. Covered by a thick layer of plaster,
these wall (still survive) measure about 11 m high and 2 m thick. Above the walls,
there is a walkway. The actual entrance is on the eastern side.