Saint Katherine

Saint Catherine Protected Area is a vast mountainous reserve in the heart of South Sinai Governorate, encompassing Egypt's highest peak, Mount Catherine at 2,629 meters, and the biblical Mount Sinai (Gebel Musa) at 2,285 meters. Designated in 1988 and covering approximately 4,350 square kilometers, the reserve protects a unique high-altitude desert environment with exceptional botanical diversity, including numerous endemic plant species found nowhere else on Earth. The area is also of profound religious and cultural significance, containing the sixth-century Saint Catherine's Monastery, one of the oldest continuously functioning Christian monasteries in the world.