The Monastery of St. Macarius (Dair Abu Maqar) is the southernmost of the monastery group of the Wadi al-Natrun. It can be seen west from the Cairo-Alexandria desert highway at about 129 Km. to Alexandria or 86 to Cairo.

It is said that the Christian, St. Magar (Maker), who lived as a hermit monk in a cave for over forty years, received a divine revelation in the form of a dream to build a church. When he died in 390 A.D, he was buried in his beloved cave, but his monks remained and the cell where he was buried became the venter of the monastery. His relics were kept as treasures and still remain. The monastery became a memorial to him so that people might not forget his story, devotion and piety.

A team from Leiden University in the Netherlands has been excavating this site since 1995, and it seems they may end up providing an analysis of how a loose group of hermits might have evolved into a monastic society.

Deir Abu Magar, also called Deir Anba Makaryus was probably the first monastery in the Wadi al-Natrun. In the 6th century, the Byzantine rulers mandated that the Coptic Patriarchs no longer reside in Alexandria and so Deir Abu Magar acquired a new importance as the seat of the Coptic Church. It remained an important monastery throughout the ages.

Seemingly, the monastery began as an open, informal structure more like a village.  There was a church and a keep (tower).

Most of the present monastery was rebuilt by Patriarch Shanudah (859-81) after it was attacked and mostly destroyed for the third time by Berbers in 866. By the end of that century, the tower's outer walls were reinforced, and most of the settlement was surrounded by an outer defensive wall, giving it the real appearance of a monastery. This wall may have encouraged hermit monks to live within, resulting in a true monastery.

Ancient icons within the monastery depict the following:

* Anba Maqar the Great, the Egyptian carrying the cross (as a symbol of his perseverance, honesty and self mortification).

* Anba Maqar the Alexandrian carrying a ladder (as a symbol of his zeal to acquire virtues step by step).

* Anba Naqar the bishop of Edfu carrying a small lamb between his arms (as he is a Priest and martyr brought to slaughter, he is painted with white clothes.

Saint Yehnis the Short was the spiritual son of Anba Maqar. He was of the second generation, and his monastery was 15 kms south west of the monastery of Anba Maqar. His relics were transferred to the monastery of Anba Maqar when his monastery was ruined.