Trekking Sinai Saint Catherine Trail

Mount Sinai, also known as Jebel Musa or Mount Moses, is a sacred mountain in Egypt, renowned for its association with biblical events and its connection to Moses receiving the Ten Commandments. The mountain’s rugged terrain and remote location make it an important pilgrimage site for believers worldwide. Beyond its religious significance, Mount Sinai offers breathtaking natural beauty, with towering peaks and diverse flora and fauna. Climbing the “Path of Moses” offers a rewarding experience, offering panoramic vistas and a chance for self-reflection and spiritual contemplation.

Mount Saint Catherine, Egypt’s highest peak, is a natural wonder with historical and religious significance. Standing at 2,642 meters (8,667 feet), it offers breathtaking views of the Sinai Desert and Red Sea. The mountain is believed to be the location where parts of Saint Catherine’s body were found. Its rugged terrain offers hiking and trekking opportunities, and its diverse ecosystem attracts nature and history enthusiasts. Mount Saint Catherine is a must-visit destination in Egypt, offering unforgettable experiences and lasting memories.

Mount Al-Ahmar : It was named that because of the redness of its soil. It is located to the west of Mount Sinai, about ten miles from it, and extends north-south a day’s journey or more. Among the branches of this mountain are:
Wadi Al-Ahmar is a valley full of rocks after the fruit gardens of the Bedouins. It also has a path that leads to the summit of Mount Catherine.

Mount Khedive Abbas Hilmi Palace, built in 1853 AD, is an important archaeological site in St. Catherine. The palace was built to provide hospitalization and isolation for Khedive Abbas Pasha I, who was suffering from tuberculosis. The palace was built on Jabal Abbas, the third highest mountain peak in the city, and was registered among the city’s antiquities. Excavations at the bottom of the mountain revealed numerous accommodation rooms, kitchens, and service areas.

The Samra Mountains, or the Black Peaks, are sandy and rocky peaks at the same time, where agriculture is possible in parts of them, as they were inhabited by some of the Bedouins of the Jabaliya tribe.

Hike Mount Abo Alda, abo Qroun, and Bab El-Donya the three peaks are the three highest peaks overlooking the Gulf of Suez and part of the Red Sea, where the Red Sea and some ships can be seen when the weather is clear, and a stunning panorama can be seen from these peaks.

The blue jelly or El-Galt El-Azraq is a natural reserve in one of the valleys of the St. Catherine’s Path, and it is full of fresh water throughout the year, which is the result of swimming in it most of the time.

Jabal Naaja, which is a peak with a stunning panorama overlooking Wadi Gharba or Wadi Sheikh Awad, and also overlooking the Teyeh Plateau.

It is a Bedouin village on the outskirts of the city of St. Catherine. It is also inhabited by the Jabaliya tribe. It has details and topography that differ from the city of Catherine. It also has a beautiful environmental building in which we can spend the night.

Wadi Al-Furai is the valley that connects the village of Sheikh Awad to Jabal Al-Banat.

It is a great mountain facing Sarbal, separated by the Firan Valley. There have been many narrations about why it was given this name, the most famous of which is that some of the girls of the desert fled from their families. To get rid of marrying someone they did not love, they took refuge in this mountain, and they chased them there, so they tied their braids together and threw themselves into the valley, and they became martyrs of freedom.

A monk from the Sinai Monastery confirmed to me that in the past there was a monastery for nuns on this mountain. If this news is true, it is not unlikely that some Arabs attacked the monastery and tried to rape the nuns, so they threw themselves into the valley for fear of scandal, and this was the story.

On the slopes of Mount Sinai, where Moses received the Ten Commandments from God, lies one of the oldest operating monasteries in the world. Known as the Monastery of Saint Catherine, its actual name is “Holy Monastery of God of Mount Sinai.” It was built by order of Byzantine Emperor Justinian I (527-565 AD) in 548-565 AD to house monks who had been living in the Sinai Peninsula since the 4th century AD.

Saint Catherine was martyred in the early fourth century AD. The monastery bears her name because her monks discovered her body near Mount Saint Catherine in the ninth century AD, where it was placed by angels after her martyrdom.

The monastery includes multiple structures, the most important of which is the Church of the Transfiguration of Christ the Savior, which itself includes nine smaller churches. One of these churches is the burning church in which God spoke to the Prophet Moses. St. Catherine’s Monastery also includes ten other churches, monks’ quarters, a refectory, an olive press, ossuaries, a 12th-century AD Fatimid mosque, and a library housing 6,000 rare books.