SW News: The Egyptian government has just unveiled a nine-meter-tall bronze monument of the Virgin Mary atop the Dronka church in Asyut Province. This magnificent monument, in particular, has the distinction of being the biggest Marian statue in the country.

Professor Gerges Algawly, an Egyptian sculptor best known for his field and space sculptures and a member of the faculty of Fine Arts at the University of Minia, has created a really massive work of art. He skillfully constructed the enormous monument, which sits defiantly on a 15-meter-tall pedestal.

After two years of planning, the monument was carved in three months, carried from Cairo to Asyut in 20 sections, and reconstructed on-site, much to the joy of visitors to the monastery and Asyut locals. Every year, a large number of pilgrims go to the Virgin Mary Monastery in Dronka, which is one of the last stops on the famed Holy Family Trail.

And this year, on Monday, August 21, hundreds of Copts and delegations from Ethiopia and Eritrea broke their fast after 15 days of festivities at the monastery on Mount Dronka in Assiut Governorate. The festivities were staged in commemoration of the Holy Family's hiding spot in a cave inside the monastery's walls.

Meanwhile, the Egyptian government has included the Holy Family Route in a larger project to link 20 key attractions around the country. These locations extend from the northern province of North Sinai to Cairo, as well as the southern provinces of Minia and Asyut and they comprise the halts of St Joseph, the Virgin Mary and the Baby Jesus during their sojourn to Egypt.

According to sources, the Egyptian government is collaborating with the Ministries of Culture and Tourism to improve the infrastructure of the Holy Family Trail's 25 officially recognized stops in order to attract more cultural and religious travelers to Egypt.

According to the Bible, the Holy Family journeyed from Palestine to Egypt to seek safety from King Herod the Great's persecution of the Jewish population. During their three-year stay in Egypt, they traveled through 11 of the country's current governorates, starting in North Sinai and finishing in Asyut.