 Sinai major industry is foreign and domestic tourism, owing to its dramatic landscape, year-round dry and temperate climate and long stretches of natural beaches. Its waters are clear and calm for most of the year and have become popular for various watersports, particularly recreational scuba diving and snorkelling (which many consider to be among the best in the world). Major luxury hotels, such as The Ritz-Carlton, The Hyatt Regency and The Four Seasons, as well as franchises like Planet Hollywood and Hard Rock Cafe, can be found in Sharm el-Sheikh. Ras Mohammed, at the southern-most tip of the peninsula, has been designated a national park, serving to protect the area's wildlife as well as its natural landscape, shoreline and coral reef. A number of international hotels and noted restaurants are clustered around the centre of Sharm, known as Naama Bay, with golf courses and other leisure facilities further up the coast. |
The monastery was built by order of the Emperor Justinian I between 527 and 565 enclosing the Chapel of the Burning Bush ordered built by Helena, the mother of Constantine I, at the site where Moses is supposed to have seen the burning bush; the living bush on the grounds is purportedly the original. The site is sacred to three major world religions - Christianity, Judaism and Islam.
Though it is commonly known as Saint Catherine's, the actual name of the monastery is the Monastery of the Transfiguration. The site was associated with St. Catherine of Alexandria (whose relics were purported to have been miraculously transported there) and it became a favourite site for pilgrimages. |
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CAIRO • ALEXANDRIA • OASIS• LUXOR • ASWAN • ABU SIMBEL • SINAI
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