The monastery has five churches, the main one being named after Pishoy. The other churches are named after Mary, Abaskhiron the Soldier, Saint George, and the archangel Michael. The monastery is surrounded by a keep, which was built in the fifth century to protect the monastery against the attacks by Berbers. An initial castle was built early in the twentieth century, but was later replaced by a four-storied castle built by Pope Shenouda III. In addition, the monastery contains a well known as "the Well of the Martyrs". Coptic tradition says the Berbers washed their swords in this well after having killed the Forty-Nine Martyrs of Scetis and subsequently threw their bodies in the well before Christians retrieved the bodies and buried them in the nearby Monastery of Saint Macarius the Great.