Egypt wants ancient Christian ruins off UNESCO's list of sites in danger

Egypt has drained the groundwater that had collected below a centuries-old Christian site in a bid to get it removed from the United Nations cultural agency's list of endangered world heritage sites.

Senior Egyptian antiquities officials and Egypt's Coptic Orthodox pope, Tawadros II, toured the area near the coastal city of Alexandria on Tuesday.

The historical area centers around Saint Menas, who died in the early days of Christianity and is buried at the site that was inscribed in 1979 on the list of globally treasured natural and cultural sites recognized by the United Nations.

In 2001, it was placed on UNESCO's list of heritage sites in danger after groundwater levels threatened the ruins of an ancient church, public buildings and homes.

Egypt drained the groundwater in 2022 as part of its effort to get the site out of the list of endangered sites, but further restoration work needs to be done.

"The Egyptian government managed to lower the level of the water table and also to maintain the restoration and the archaeological work," said Egypt's Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Mohamed Ismail.

Ismail said several stakeholders are "cooperating in order to make this site a unique site and to return in it back, hopefully next year, to the normal World Heritage list."

Tourism and Antiquities Minister Sherif Fathy took part in the inspection tour along with the director of UNESCO's regional office for Egypt and Sudan, Nuria Sanz.

The burial of Saint Menas, considered a martyr in Christian belief, gave rise to a flourishing community as pilgrims on their way to and from Jerusalem stopped to pay their respects.

"People started to come to this place. It started to transform to a place with rooms, a church and a site to visit this saint," said Priest Taddaeus Ava Mina. "The number of visitors became so big. Then a big basilica was made in the shape of a cross, then a baptistery, then a city was formed."

The area once hosted a church, baptistry, basilicas, public buildings, streets, houses and workshops. It also had facilities for the pilgrims passing through.

Today, the ruins of these buildings and the remains of marble columns sit the site next to a church built on top of the location of the historic altar.