One of the easiest ancient Christian monasteries that one may visit in Egypt is the that of St. Jeremiah (Deir Apa Jeremiah), because of its location in at Saqqara, the largest known ancient necropolis in Egypt, which is a common stop on most tours. Saqqara, home to the famous Step Pyramid of Djoser, is only about fifteen kilometers from the great Pyramids of Giza located on the outskirts of Cairo. The Monastery of St. Jeremiah is situated in the southern part of the necropolis about five hundred meters from the Step Pyramid.

This monastery was discovered by James E. Quibell, when, between 1906 and 1910, he excavated an area of some eighteen thousand square meters from the sand, unearthing a vast church, a funerary building, a refectory, monastic cells and other buildings. At that time, a large number of elements, including decorative items, an ambon (pulpit), columns and capitals, friezes and other architectural fragments were removed from the site to the Coptic Christian Museum in Cairo, where a chamber known as "the Hall of Saqqara" exits for the sole purpose of displaying these items. Afterwards, the site was almost completely ignored by archaeologists until 1970.