Egypt
Saint Catherine Area
The Saint Catherine Area holds the holy mountain of Mount Sinaï, home to one of the oldest continuously functioning Christian monasteries.
The remote monastery, located in a rugged landscape at the foot of the mountain, is an ancient example of ascetic monasticism. It was built in the 6th century at the site where Moses is supposed to have seen the burning bush. The mountain is sacred to three major world religions - Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
Community Perspective: Be prepared for “an hour-long visit to a small courtyard, a church, and a very historic, though unimpressive, bush“. The monastery can be hard to enter because of the observance of many religious holidays and the site can get very crowded with bus tours from the Red Sea coast. Most people also do the 3hr hike to the top of the mountain, or even longer hikes. Philipp has tested that you can also do it as a DIY trip by rental car from the coastal resorts.
Site Info
Official Information
- Full Name
- Saint Catherine Area (ID: 954)
- Country
- Egypt
- Status
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Inscribed 2002
Site history
History of Saint Catherine Area
- WHS Type
- Cultural
- Criteria
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Links
- UNESCO
- whc.unesco.org
All Links
UNESCO.org
- whc.unesco.org — whc.unesco.org/
Related Resources
- sinaimonastery.com — Saint Catherineʼs Monastery
News Article
- May 31, 2025 orthodoxtimes.com — Monks of Saint Catherine’s Monastery close its doors to visitors in protest over Egyptian Court ruling
- Nov. 6, 2022 middleeasteye.net — Egyptian authorities jeopardising St Catherine's nature reserve and indigenous population with tourism project
- Dec. 17, 2017 arabnews.com — Egypt reopens ancient library in Sinai after renovations
- April 23, 2017 christiandaily.com — ISIS claims responsibility for attack at checkpoint near Christian monastery in Egypt
- April 15, 2014 english.alarabiya.net — Ex-Egypt general wants St. Catherine demolished
- Feb. 18, 2014 telegraph.co.uk — Excursions to St Catherine'shalted after Sinai bombing
- Sept. 14, 2013 theguardian.com — Mount Sinai monastery latest victim of Egypt's upheavals
- April 15, 2012 english.ahram.org.eg — St. Catherine Monastery library to undergo restoration
- Sept. 8, 2009 independent.co.uk — Fragment from world's oldest Bible found hidden in Saint Catherine monastery
Community Information
- Community Category
- Religious structure: Christian
- Archaeological site: Near Eastern
Travel Information
Recent Connections
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Bedouin
"It preserves the authenticity of its d… -
Located in a TCC Territory
Egypt in Asia -
Sacred Mountains
"centred on the holy mountain of Mount …
Connections of Saint Catherine Area
- Individual People
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Johann Ludwig Burckhardt
May 18th -21st 1816 -
Emperor Justininian
The Walls and Basilica were constructed in 527 A.D on the orders of Justinian to protect and enhance the Chapel of the Burning Bush. -
Helen of Constantinople
Received request for assistance from the monks of the region and ordered the building of the "Church of the Burning Bush" which was later to become the heart of St Catherine's Monastery
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- Geography
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Territorial Highest points
Mount Catherine, at 2,629 m (8,625 ft) the highest point in Egypt
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- Trivia
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Tourist Treks
Sinai Trail: Egypt’s 1st long distance hiking trail.See sinaitrail.org
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More than 500 steps to climb
Steps of Repentance - 3750 steps
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- History
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Byzantine Empire and Civilization
Its walls and buildings are very significant in the study of Byzantine architecture ... the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I, who sent teams of architects and masons to build a fort below the rocky eminence identified by the monks as Mount Sinaï (AB ev)
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- World Heritage Process
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Cultural sites rejected for Natural criteria
In 2002 Egypt originally asked for a "mixed" inscription but the site was only inscribed on cultural criteria. In 2003 it submitted a larger area in an attempt to gain inscription under natural criteria as well but this was again rejected
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- Religion and Belief
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Fortified religious buildings
Monastery -
Christian Pilgrimage Sites
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Greek Orthodox churches outside Greece
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Sacred Mountains
"centred on the holy mountain of Mount Sinaï (Jebel Musa, Mount Horeb)" (OUV) -
Notable mosques
"The Fatimid Mosque, on the site of a small Crusader chapel, was built between 1101 and 1106. It is rectangular in plan, with a small semi-detached minaret in the northern corner and a small courtyard in front, which forms the roof of the well restored ancient olive press and mill." (Unesco website) -
Mentioned in the Bible
Mt Sinai (or traditonally Horeb/Jebel Musa). 1 Kings 19 (Elijah) Exodus 19 (Moses); Neh 11:30 return from captivity; 2 Chr 19:4 - Kingdom of 10 tribes -
Jewish religion and culture
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- Human Activity
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Bedouin
"It preserves the authenticity of its different components to a considerable extent because of the reliance on local materials in successive buildings and restorations. There are repairs that date back to the Middle Ages, made by both the monks and the local Bedouin." (OUV) -
Famous Palimpsests
Sinaitic PalimpsestSee en.wikipedia.org
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- Constructions
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Ossuary
Chapel of St Tryphon
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- WHS on Other Lists
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Europa Nostra Award
Collaborative Conservation of the Apse Mosaic of the Transfiguration in the Basilica at St. Catherine’s Monastery -
Located in a TCC Territory
Egypt in Asia
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- Timeline
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Built in the 6th century
having been used for its initial function without interruption since the 6th century
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- WHS Hotspots
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Southern Levant hotspot
By day trip from Eilat, either organized or by taking a bus from Taba.
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- Science and Technology
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Libraries
"The monastery library preserves the second largest collection of early codices and manuscripts in the world, outnumbered only by the Vatican Library. Its strength lies in Greek, Coptic, Arabic, Armenian, Hebrew, Georgian, and Syriac texts. The Codex Sinaiticus, now in the British Library, left the monastery in the 19th century for Russia, in circumstances that are now disputed."
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- WHS Names
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Named after a local Christian saint
After St. Catherine of Alexandria (whose relics were purported to have been miraculously transported here by angels)
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News
- orthodoxtimes.com 05/31/2025
- Monks of Saint Catherine’s Monaste…
- middleeasteye.net 11/06/2022
- Egyptian authorities jeopardising …
- arabnews.com 12/17/2017
- Egypt reopens ancient library in S…
Recent Visitors
Reserved for members.Community Reviews
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Most has been mentioned about the monastery itself, so I won’t go into details. According to their website, the monastery is closed on Friday and Sunday, so I picked Saturday to go there. Further the museum and church closed at 11:30 that day, so better early if you want to visit them. We also skipped visiting the mountain. If you are not religious, there is in my opinion little incentive to climb such a mountain.
I went to the monastery from Sharm El Sheikh by rental car and apart from the usual police and military blockades this was no problem at all. No special permit needed and no police escort. Streets are great and empty the whole way. It is very easy to find as there are not many streets and signage is good. A clear advantage for the crazy ones like me is that you can visit 3 TWHS on the day trip to the area. We stopped in Dahab in the morning and took the longer route (had to convince the police that I want to take a detour) on the way back, with stops at Wadi Feiran and Raitho monastery. All 3 TWHS are from 1994 and will never make it to the list. So don’t bother if you are not that serious.
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I had the opportunity to arrange a 3-day visit to the holy site, which included a hike to Mt. St. Catherine - the highest point in Egypt, through the guidance of Ahmed, a Jebeliya Bedouin. He said his tribe has lived for centuries in the mountains of South Sinai.
Perhaps for most travelers, St. Catherine Area means St. Catherine Monastery, and its impressive museum, church and the Burning Bush. But by venturing out in the valleys and canyon (property is 60,000+ hectares), one discovers other interesting chapels, ruins and archaeological sites most likely related to stories in the Book of Exodus.
It took several hours and a great deal of sore muscles to reach the country's summit, the Chapel of St. Catherine (photo uploaded). On the way, Ahmed and I hiked through Wadi El-Arbaein (Valley of the Forty, in honor of the Forty Martyrs), numerous rock shelters, olive gardens and ancient wells.
Two tentative sites, Raitho Monastery and Wadi Feiran, for their own unique heritage values can perhaps be nominated as extension to (or enhancement of) the St. Catherine heritage site.
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WHS#63
Sinai doesn't feel quite like the rest of Egypt. It's home to some beautiful rugged mountain landscapes that kept me awake through every drive. It also doesn't feel quite as congested and crazy. And it's cool. As in cold. Even in May when I experienced 47-degree temperatures in Luxor and Aswan days before, temperatures were 30 degrees lower in the nights in St. Catherine. I spent a night in a Bedouin camp nearby while on my trip through Egypt in 2018, and the views and atmosphere of the desert mountains was just magical, almost as if preparing us for the great sights to see the next day. I think that's why I wasn't so sold with St. Catherine's Monastery the next day - there was just so much anticipation for what ended up being an hour-long visit to a small courtyard, a church, and a very historic, though unimpressive, bush. I don't think my visit to the monastery really gave it justice, but does the monastery really give justice to the long drive going there? It's great, but I ended up not seeing the renowned library and mosque next to the church as those options weren't even available to me. I also regrettably didn't go up to Mt. Sinai as my family wasn't in the mood to wake up at dawn and climb hundreds of steps. All in all, it was a somewhat underwhelming experience, but I did love the mountain landscapes.
Ultimately, though, I can't take …
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I visited this WHS in April 2010. I started to climb Mount Sinai at around 4am to view a spectacular sunrise at around 7am. After the sun rose, I continued to trek towards the Monastery of St. Catherine at the foot of Mt Horeb, where Moses received the Tablets of the Law. The whole area is considered sacred by 3 religions: Christianity, Islam and Judaism.
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in my past life i used to climb the Mt. Sinai for living!
i did that almost 80 - 100 times .. for sunrise and such!
Nowadays, and after i realized what is best for me, i got myself i little house in here and i enjoy the magnificent healthy spiritual life in these mountains.
If you come around that far and high, its sad that you don't give yourselves the time to meet with yourselves! Spend few days and learn new experiences.
its summer it time!
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It's an increadible experience up the Sinai, but the guides sell you this a first level dificulty climb. This is not true. And the dry weather became freeze ou too much hot very fast. It's impossible climb the mountain and see the Monatery at the same time you go there. The Monastery is too interesting but the visit gets you about 15 or 20 minutes, because the monks don't let you stay looking at. There, you keep the line, see and farewell.
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The last leg of my Egyptian trip – the Sinai Peninsula and Sharm El Sheik – heading for the Saint Catherine Monastery in the mountains. I’m sure that Sharm El Sheik is a haven for those who just loves resorts, especially in combination with diving but in my - strictly personal opinion – its nothing but a sad place with one concrete hotel next to the other and garbage littered desert. If you want to go here I strongly recommend the small towns of Dahab and Nuweiba further up the east coast of Sinai.
At the time of my visit to Saint Catherine’s, the entire tourist population of Sharm El Sheik must have decided to go here. Given the crowds, I still got quite a nice view and understanding of a monastery that with its desolate location has been virtually uninfluenced by the surrounding world over many centuries, preserving a religious ambience that you only find in Jerusalem or in religious centres in Russia.
The reason for Saint Catherine’s location, in the midst of the Sinai Mountains, is of course Moses and the mountain where he received the Ten Commandments from God. Besides Moses, they say that the desert and the Sinai Mountains have given birth to many prophets and philosophers thanks to its desolate, beautiful and majestic landscape - once there’s nothing around you, you have to look inside to find truth and meaning to life. Believe me….it works…!
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Unfortunately St Catherine’s closes for various religious days and, to complicate matters further, is still operating on the Julian, not the Gregorian calendar! I know of no way to check in advance whether it will be open on any particular day or not.
So, on my second visit we could not get in (luckily I had already visited the “Burning bush” and the library). There is still Mount Sinai to climb however! It provides some fine views down onto the monastery and a wide panorama at the top. It will take about 3hrs. It is “traditional” to do it at night (when you can make it more of a “pilgrimage”) for the sunrise but if (as we are not) you are not a great lover of sunrises it is a reasonable climb in winter before the sun rises too high.
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