Egypt Moves to Integrate St. Catherine Monastery into Massive “Spiritual Disneyland” Project in Sinai

A highly contentious Egyptian tribunal ruling has transferred ownership of the historical St. Catherine’s Monastery in Sinai to the Egyptian state, sparking tensions with Greece and raising concerns astir the site’s future.

A highly contentious Egyptian tribunal ruling has transferred ownership of the historical St. Catherine’s Monastery in Sinai to the Egyptian state, sparking tensions with Greece and raising concerns astir the site’s future.

The ruling, which has drawn planetary attention, allows the monastery’s 20 monks and 91-year-old abbot, Archbishop Damianos of Sinai and Raithu, to proceed spiritual practices but strips them of spot ownership. The determination is seen arsenic a measurement toward integrating the UNESCO World Heritage Site into Egypt’s ambitious “Great Transfiguration Project,” a tourism-driven inaugural critics person dubbed a “spiritual Disneyland.”

Court Ruling Fuels Ownership Dispute

The court’s decision, leaked to the press, designates the monastery and its surrounding properties arsenic archaeological sites nether the supervision of the Supreme Council of Antiquities. Key assets, including the monastery’s gardens, olive groves, and ineffable sites similar the cave of Saint John of the Stairs, person been transferred to authorities control. These areas, captious for the monastery’s self-sustainability, see the gardens of Agioi Saranta (housing captious springs) and Agioi Anargyroi (home to past olive groves).

Greek officials person expressed outrage, with a delegation from aggregate ministries scheduled to sojourn Cairo adjacent week to negociate a resolution. Both nations are successful ongoing talks to code the dispute, but Egypt has reaffirmed its committedness to the project, prioritizing tourism development.

The Great Transfiguration Project

The “Great Transfiguration Project” aims to alteration the St. Catherine area, revered for its biblical value arsenic the tract wherever Moses received the Ten Commandments, into a “world-class spiritual and tourism destination.” With implicit 90% completion arsenic of May 2025, the task includes five-star hotels, malls, chalets, restaurants, and recreational facilities. A “Peace Square and Building” spanning 12,000 quadrate meters volition diagnostic a museum, a theater, a league hall, and a cafeteria. Additional developments see an expanded eco-lodge with 74 chalets, a caller 192-room eco-lodge successful Wadi El-Raha, and a upland edifice with panoramic views of the monastery and Mount Sinai.

The task besides involves infrastructure upgrades, specified arsenic a roadworthy web linking South Sinai’s tourer hubs, including Dahab and Sharm El-Sheikh, arsenic good arsenic flood information measures and the imaginable improvement of St. Catherine Airport. A pedestrian walkway, known arsenic “Moses’ Path,” volition usher visitors on the historical way to the Mount of Transfiguration, portion play carts volition transport tourists from parking areas to the monastery.

Commercial Interests astatine Play

The initiative, backed by Egypt’s Ministries of Urbanization, Tourism, and Environment, on with investors reportedly including the Marriott edifice chain, is expected to pull 30 cardinal tourists by 2028. Critics reason the task prioritizes commercialized summation implicit the site’s ineffable character, with plans to make a “premium destination” for holistic tourism and upland climbing. The monastery, primitively slated to go a museum, volition clasp its “monastic character” but nether strict authorities oversight, raising fears that its spiritual value could beryllium overshadowed by wide tourism.

Local and Global Implications

The task besides includes upgrades for the section Bedouin community, specified arsenic a caller residential compound successful the Zeitouna portion with 21 edifice complexes and 546 residential units. However, the influx of tourists and large-scale improvement threatens to disrupt the serene situation of the Holy Valley, a tract of profound spiritual value for Christians, Jews, and Muslims.

As Egypt advances with its vision, the planetary assemblage intimately watches. The translation of St. Catherine Monastery into a tourer hotspot risks altering 1 of the world’s oldest Christian monasteries, prompting questions astir balancing practice preservation with modern development.

Source: pagenews.gr

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