El-Tor (also transliterated as Al-Tur and At-Tur and known as Tur Sinai, formerly Raithu, is the capital of South Sinai Governorate of Egypt, located at the Sinai Peninsula. The name of the city comes from the Arabic name of the mountain where the prophet Moses received the tablets from God; this mountain is called Jabal Al Tor.
The El Tor strain of cholera was discovered there in 1905. It was a quarantine camp for Pilgrims returning from Hajj.
The Raithu desert is situated around El-Tor, between Saint Katherine city and the Red Sea. It is part of the Archdiocese of Mount Sinai and Raithu of the Orthodox Church of Jerusalem. The "Martyrs of Raithu" were 43 anchorites slain by Nomadic Tribes in the Romans Era of Diocletian.
Christian monks fleeing persecutions had been present since the 3rd century, and the Raithu monastery (or Rutho) was commissioned in the 6th century by Byzantine emperor Justinian. The latter was proposed as a UNESCO World Heritage site on November 1st, 1994 in the Cultural category.
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