When a Holy Place Becomes a Luxury Playground: Bulldozers Move on Mount Sinai as Five Hotels and Villas Rise
Across the desert, a sacred hill faces a startling intrusion. Bulldozers are moving toward Mount Sinai in a push to develop the region into a luxury destination — a move that locals say would scar a site revered by Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike. The plan, dubbed the Great Transfiguration Project, would bring five hotels, hundreds of villas, a 1.4-acre visitors’ center, and a large shopping complex to the St. Catherine Protectorate. The government says it aims to complete the project by 2026 and frames it as a gift to the world and all faiths.
In This Article:
- The Great Transfiguration Project: Five Hotels, Hundreds of Villas, and a 1.4-Acre Visitors’ Center Near St. Catherine Protectorate
- A Sacred Site in Five Faiths: Sinai’s Significance, Moses, and UNESCO’s World Heritage Status
- Bedouin Displaced: The Human Cost of a Top-Down Development
- Diplomacy, Identity and Public Pressure: Greece, Egypt, and the Battle Over St. Catherine’s Identity
The Great Transfiguration Project: Five Hotels, Hundreds of Villas, and a 1.4-Acre Visitors’ Center Near St. Catherine Protectorate
The Great Transfiguration Project is billed as a move to promote sustainable tourism and preserve the region’s heritage, a modern upgrade that officials say will boost livelihoods and place Sinai on the world stage. In total, the plan includes five hotels, hundreds of villas, a 1.4-acre visitors’ center, and a shopping complex surrounding St. Catherine Protectorate, with a target completion in 2026. Officials describe it as a ‘gift to the entire world and all religions.’
A Sacred Site in Five Faiths: Sinai’s Significance, Moses, and UNESCO’s World Heritage Status
Mount Sinai is a cross-faith landmark. The Bible and the Quran place Moses there, where he received the Ten Commandments and where he spoke with the Burning Bush. The nearby St. Catherine’s Monastery, a sixth‑century fortress of faith, houses Christian relics and rites that have endured since antiquity and became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2002. The site’s sanctity is part of a global story that draws pilgrims and travelers from many faiths.
Bedouin Displaced: The Human Cost of a Top-Down Development
The Bedouin Jebeleya people, whose name means “people of the mountain,” have guarded the monastery for centuries and now face the most abrupt changes. Bedouin homes and tourist camps have already been destroyed without compensation, and some communities were forced to exhume graves to make way for new parking spaces. ‘I call it the Grand Disfiguration Project,’ said John Grainger, a former manager of a European Union project to develop the area. ‘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,’ explained Ben Hoffler, a British travel writer who has worked closely with the Bedouin. He warned the resorts would likely hire Nile Valley Egyptians rather than Sinai tribespeople. Dissent is not without risk: ‘If they say anything about it, they get a knock on the door. The secret police in St. Catherine monitor everything — phone calls, spyware on telephones; they follow people in the street. I’ve been followed many times,’ Hoffler said.
Diplomacy, Identity and Public Pressure: Greece, Egypt, and the Battle Over St. Catherine’s Identity
The dispute has drawn international attention. Greece has vocally opposed the plan, arguing that the monastery sits on state land and that the St. Catherine area must be protected. Archbishop Ieronymos II of Athens, head of the Church of Greece, declared: “The monastery’s property is being seized and expropriated. This spiritual beacon of Orthodoxy and Hellenism is now facing an existential threat.” Following diplomatic discussions, Greece and Egypt announced joint protection of St Catherine’s Greek Orthodox identity and cultural heritage, highlighting how heritage can become a battleground in modern development. What do you think?
