In July, World Heritage Watch issued an open letter requesting that the Saint Catherine area be placed on the List of World Heritage Sites in Danger, intensifying scrutiny of Egypt’s push to transform the Mount Sinai region into a tourism hub. Even as funding issues appeared to slow some work, new roads were under construction in the El-Raha plain facing the monastery, and the landscape around the mountain changed, with critics warning of irreversible effects. UNESCO expressed concern in 2023 and demanded that Egypt halt development, assess impacts, and prepare a conservation plan. Those steps did not occur.
At the center of the controversy is the Egyptian government’s Great Transfiguration Project, launched in 2021 under official patronage. The plan envisions luxury hotels, large villas, shopping bazaars, eco-lodges, a visitor center, an expansion of the nearby small airport, and a cable car to Mount Sinai. “It is Egypt’s gift to the whole world and all religions,” said Egyptian officials, who also argued it would boost a tourism sector hit by COVID-19 and regional instability. The target is to attract 30 million visitors by 2028 and to promote development of the town of St Catherine and its surroundings with tourist and recreational services.
Mount Sinai, locally known as Jabal Musa, was one of Egypt’s holiest sites, revered by Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike, and widely believed to be where Moses received the Ten Commandments and where God spoke to him through a burning bush. At its foot stood Saint Catherine’s Monastery, a sixth-century Greek Orthodox landmark and one of the world’s oldest continually operating monasteries. The site, including the monastery, the town, and the mountain, was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List for a rugged landscape whose solitude and natural beauty intertwined with human spirituality.
For years, visitors went up the mountain with local Bedouin guides for sunrise and to follow trails steeped in cultural history. The Jebeliya, known as the traditional Guardians of Saint Catherine, lived there for generations, caring for the sacred site and guiding pilgrims. As development advanced, members of the tribe reported the demolition of homes and eco-tourism camps with little compensation, fears of displacement, and the relocation of graves to make way for parking areas, an act regarded as sacrilege for Muslims. Many locals, about 4,000, were hesitant to speak openly as their way of life was uprooted. “This is not development as the Jebaliya see it or ask for it, but how it looks when it’s imposed from the top down to serve the interests of outsiders, not the local community,” said Ben Hoffler, a British writer who wrote about travel and collaborated closely with the tribes of the Sinai Peninsula, according to BBC News. Critics argued that the project, presented as sustainable, was imposed on the Bedouins against their will, threatened the area’s natural features and spiritual character, and risked degrading biodiversity as mass tourism grew.
Authorities said they upgraded Bedouin residences and that the resort would create jobs. Yet skepticism remains, with expectations that Egyptians from other parts of the country would staff many new roles in Saint Catherine. Officials said the development aligned with Vision 2030 by addressing limited facilities and improving accessibility.
The monastery’s standing also triggered diplomatic friction. Tensions between Athens and Cairo escalated after an Egyptian court ruled that Saint Catherine’s stood on state-owned land, granting the monastery only a right of use over its site and surrounding religious-archaeological areas. “The monastery’s property is being confiscated and expropriated. This spiritual beacon of Orthodoxy and Hellenism is now facing an existential threat,” said Archbishop Ieronymos II, head of the Greek Church. A joint statement between Greece and Egypt later assured the Greek Orthodox identity of Saint Catherine and the protection of its cultural heritage, while disagreements among monks led to the abbot’s resignation.
Campaigners reached out to King Charles, the patron of the Saint Catherine Foundation that supported preserving the monastery’s heritage and ancient manuscripts. The Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem emphasized that the monastery was a symbol of peace between Christians and Muslims, noting a historic letter of protection.
Meanwhile, the broader Sinai context sharpened the debate. Governments in Egypt continued commercial projects without fully consulting Bedouin communities, a pattern dating to the rise of Red Sea resorts in the 1980s. Bedouins said they were treated as second-class citizens and excluded from new tourism opportunities. As construction proceeded and the plain around Saint Catherine transformed, calls grew for rigorous environmental assessments, a clear visitor carrying capacity, and open dialogue with Bedouin elders and antiquities custodians.
The preparation of this article relied on a news-analysis system.