The Abandoned Outdoor Movie Theater of the Sinai Desert
Somewhere on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, nestled at the foot of a desert mountain range, sits an odd sight that is almost completely out of place: hundreds of seats for an outdoor movie theater. If you have planned to visit the most ancient and historical region on this planet and want to look at Egyptian civilization, then Cairo is the perfect place to stay. You can visit https://www.hotelsincairo.org/ to book hotels in Cairo.
Estonian photographer Kaupo Kikkas recently visited the empty location and brought back these amazing images of the abandoned place. He explained the story as he heard it via his blog. The theater was built “sometime in the beginning of this millennium” by a man from France. He liked to smoke cannabis (and presumably had a bit of money to throw around). One day he was hanging out in the Sinai desert with his friends and decided that the one thing the place was missing was … a movie theater. Long story short, tons of old seats and a generator were hauled in from Cairo, including a giant screen that looked like the sail of a ship.
Everything was set for opening night, however, the locals didn’t like the idea for some reason and sabotaged the generator. Not a single movie was ever screened. So now it sits in the middle of a desert, a forgotten movie theater that was never used.
Location: Google Maps.
– via kaupokikkas.com, messynessychic.com, thisiscolossal.com, abandonedography.com.
UnusualPlaces Field Notes
- Location
- Former Seventh Art Cinema site, South Sinai, Egypt (historic location only)
- Access
- The Seventh Art Cinema was reported leveled and destroyed in April 2014 by a visitor who reached the published coordinates; a later Atlas Obscura article also updated its earlier story to report the destruction. No current operator or managed visitor access was found. The former site is several kilometres off-road from Dusti Road; current UK advice says off-road travel in Egypt requires a qualified guide and a Ministry of Interior permit. Do not treat old discovery posts or this historic location as an invitation to visit.
- Admission
- Not applicable. The planned cinema reportedly never screened a film, and the site was reported destroyed in April 2014; no public attraction or visitor ticket is documented.
- Time needed
- No visit duration is recommended: the cinema was reported destroyed, and no current public site or visitor route is verified.
- Best season
- No visitor season is established. This is a historical site, not a current attraction; the cinema was reported destroyed in 2014. Do not plan an off-road excursion from old articles.
- Opening hours
- None published. The planned cinema never opened for screenings, and no current visitor site or managed hours were found; destruction was reported in April 2014.
- Facts checked
- 2026-10-07
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good
Too bad he didn’t work things out with the locals first. It was a neat idea.
Here’s the exact location.
Dropped Pin
near Qesm Sharm Ash Sheikh
South Sinai Governorate
Egypt
https://goo.gl/maps/pXTQ9NUo7e12