Late in the 4th century AD, the tomb of Saint Menas developed into one of the major pilgrimage sites of Late Antiquity – Abu Mina, just outside of Alexandria. Until its destruction during the period of Persian occupation in the early 7th century, countless believers from across the entire Roman Empire made the pilgrimage. Afterwards, a new township emerged upon the rubble of the former city.

Students from the Egyptology Seminar at the Freie Universität Berlin report on the adventurous rediscovery of the pilgrimage site in the early 20th century, and present its most important buildings and selected architectural sculptures, pilgrim’s souvenirs and everyday objects from Abu Mina from the collection of the Museum für Byzantinische Kunst.