Sacred no more? New tourism mega-project in Egypt causes uproar at UNESCO site

Deep in the southern Sinai at the foot of Mount Horeb is the Greek Orthodox monastery, Saint Catherine. Built in the 6th century, it is the oldest Christian monastery still in use for its initial function.

Since 2002, Saint Catherine has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, along with the surrounding area which is sacred to Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. Mount Horeb, also known as Jebel Musa and Mount Sinaï, is where the Old Testament records Moses having received the Ten Commandments.

However, a new mega-project by the Egyptian government under construction in the area to boost tourism has caused alarm and an international row.

Egyptian mega-project threatens UNESCO World Heritage Site

Egyptian authorities unveiled their massive state sponsored investment to boost tourism in the region, dubbed the Great Transfiguration Project, in 2020. The hope is that the initiative, including luxury hotels, a tourist bazaar area and a scenic walkway, will bolster the flagging economy with renewed tourism.

They want to transform the area into “a haven for spiritual seekers and a hotspot for unique medical and environmental tourism experiences,” reports Egypt Today. Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly last year presented the mega-project as a “gift to the entire world and all religions.”

The local Bedouin community, the Jebeleya tribe, and the monks in the monastery see it quite differently. They feel the Egyptian government is trying to push them out.

Saint Catherine’s “property is being seized and expropriated”

Ben Hoffler told the BBC that the local Bedouins don’t see the project as “development” and it isn’t something that they’ve asked for. “[This is] how it looks when imposed top-down to serve the interests of outsiders over those of the local community,” said the British travel writer who has worked closely with Sinai tribes.

“A new urban world is being built around a Bedouin tribe of nomadic heritage. It’s a world they have always chosen to remain detached from, to whose construction they did not consent, and one that will change their place in their homeland forever,” he added.

The Greek government has been a vocal critic of the project due its religious connection to the Saint Catherine monastery. Tensions between the two countries erupted earlier this year when an Egyptian court ruled that the monastery sits on state land and is only “entitled to use” the land reports the BBC.

“The monastery’s property is being seized and expropriated. This spiritual beacon of Orthodoxy and Hellenism is now facing an existential threat,” said Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens, head of the Church of Greece, in a statement denouncing the ruling.

After a burst of back and forth between Athens and Cairo, the two governments made a joint statement which said that St Catherine’s Greek Orthodox identity and cultural heritage would be protected despite the court’s ruling.

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