Mountain · Egypt
Mount Catherine (Gabal Katrina)
Mount Catherine is the highest mountain of Egypt, a bare granite giant of 2 642 metres. It rises in the south of the Sinai Peninsula, above a desert of red and grey rock.
Picture credit: Mohamed kamal 1984 (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Youhana Nassif (CC BY-SA 4.0) · gloria_euyoque (CC BY 2.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Mount Catherine (Gabal Katrina)?
Mount Catherine (Gabal Katrina) is part of the Sinai Peninsula.
You will find it in: Egypt.
Summit: 28.509° N, 33.956° E
The story behind it
Almost nothing grows on Mount Catherine: the mountain is built of hard granite that the sun cracks by day and the frost splits by night. Days can be hot while the nights are icy, and snow lies on the summit in some winters, which surprises people who think of Egypt only as a hot country. Small gardens hide in the valleys below, where Bedouin families of the mountains grow almonds and apricots behind stone walls and lead visitors up the rocky paths. Below the peak stands a famous old monastery, and a chapel sits on the summit itself, so many walkers climb through the night to be up there at sunrise. How high the mountain is exactly is still argued about, and the figures differ by a few metres from one measurement to the next.
Find it on the globe
Mount Catherine (Gabal Katrina) is there as a small peak with its own shape — a horn, a ridge, a volcano — standing on the surface. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.
It sits at its real coordinates, not near them — the same numbers listed in the facts above. Switch off the layer for this kind of place and it disappears again; the buttons for that are down the right-hand edge.
Questions children ask
How high is Mount Catherine?
The summit is usually given as 2 642 metres above sea level. Different surveys land a few metres apart, but the peak is in any case the highest in Egypt.
Which country is Mount Catherine in?
The mountain lies in Egypt, on the southern Sinai Peninsula. That part of the country is a dry land of granite peaks, narrow valleys and small Bedouin settlements.
Can you climb Mount Catherine?
Yes, a long stone path with many steps leads to the top, usually in the company of a Bedouin guide. The climb takes five to six hours, and warm clothing is needed for the cold nights.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
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