Fury as one of world's most sacred places transformed into luxury tourism mega-project

One of the world's most sacred places is being transformed into a tourism resort that will house luxury hotels, villas, and shopping centres.

Mount Sinai, located in Egypt, is one of the most revered sites in the Abrahamic faiths. It is believed to be the mountain where Moses received the Ten Commandments and where God spoke to him from the burning bush. The area, locally known as Jabal Musa, is also home to St Catherine's Monastery, a 6th-century Greek Orthodox site.

While Egyptian authorities, as a result of pressure from Greece, have denied plans of closing the monastery, there are still concerns regarding the construction work for the resort that will be taking place at the holy area, which, along with the town and mountain, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The area is also home to the Jebeleya tribe, a traditional Bedouin community known as the Guardians of St Catherine's Monastery.

According to Ben Hoffler, a travel writer from the UK who has worked closely with Sinai tribes, the project that is claimed to be needed to boost tourism has been imposed on the Bedouin against their will.

Mr Hoffler told the BBC: "This is not development as the Jebeleya see it or asked for it, but how it looks when imposed top-down to serve the interests of outsiders over those of the local community."

"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."

Greece has been the most vocal foreign critic of the plans due to its ties to the monastery.

In May, an Egyptian court ruled that St Catherine's lies on state land, causing tensions between Athens and Cairo, the country's two capitals. Judges stated that the monastery is only "entitled to use" the land it sits on and the surrounding archaeological sites.

Archbishop Leronymos II of Athens, head of the Church of Greece, denounced the ruling and claimed that St Catherine's "property is being seized and expropriated," adding that Orthodoxy and Hellenism are now "facing an existential threat".

St Catherines, which is the world's oldest continuously used Christian monastery, also houses a small mosque in the Fatimid era, which has been said makes it an "enshrinement of peace between Christians and Muslims and a refuge of hope for a world mired by conflict".

Despite backlash, the Egyptian government is promoting its Great Transfiguration Project, which began in 2021, as "Egypt's gift to the entire world and all religions".

Last year, Egypt's Housing minister Sherif el-Sherbiny said: "The project will provide all tourism and recreational services for visitors, promote the development of the town [of St Catherine] and its surrounding areas while preserving the environmental, visual, and heritage character of the pristine nature, and provide accommodation for those working on St Catherine's projects."

The Plain of el-Raha has already been transformed, and construction work on new roads is taking place, but other work has been temporarily halted due to funding.

In 2023, UNESCO, which notes the holy site as an establishment of "an intimate bond between natural beauty and remoteness on the one hand and human spiritual commitment on the other", also highlighted concerns and called on Egypt to stop its developments.

The World Heritage Watch sent an open letter calling on UNESCO's World Heritage Committee to place the St Catherine's region on the List of World Heritage Sites in Danger.

Advocates have also called on King Charles, in his role as patron of the St Catherine Foundation - which raises funds to help conserve and study the monastery's heritage with its collection of valuable ancient Christian manuscripts - to intervene. The King has previously described the site as "a great spiritual treasure that should be maintained for future generations".