Verdict looms for 1,500-year-old Sinai monastery

The administration and monks of Saint Catherine’s Monastery, the world’s oldest continuously inhabited Christian monastery, in the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, are expressing cautious optimism over a court decision expected on 23 January in a nearly decade-long legal process concerning the ownership of its facilities and declared properties. 

The optimism stems from the high-level involvement of Egypt’s leadership and intensified Greek diplomatic efforts. 

The legal dispute arose amid efforts to register property ownership in the Sinai Peninsula during the 2000s, driven by rapid tourism development and investment interest. Saint Catherine’s meticulously declared 71 assets. 

However, in November 2015, the then-governor of South Sinai challenged these claims. Located at the foot of Mount Sinai, the monastery was built between 548 and 565 by the orders of the Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. 

Governed by the autonomous Church of Sinai, an integral part of the broader Greek Orthodox Church, it was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2002, recognising its exceptional significance to Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

Source: ekathimerini.com