Egypt's Minister of Tourism Khaled El-Anani and Minister of Local Development Mohamed Shaarawy inspected on Thursday the renovation works at the Tree of the Virgin Mary and its surroundings in Cairo's suburb of Matareya.

During the inspection tour, El-Anani asserted the importance of abiding to the schedule set to finish the renovation works.

Meanwhile, Shaarawy gave directives to remove any violations in the area of the renovation.

The Tree of the Virgin Mary is a sycamore tree in the Matareya suburb of Cairo. According to local beliefs, the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph stopped at Matareya (then a small village) on their trip through Egypt.