CAIRO, Sept 11 (Aswat Masriya) - Google has launched a project that allows internet users to tour Egyptian monuments virtually using the company's Street View service.

The launch was announced in a joint press conference between Google executives and the Egyptian tourism minister on Wednesday.

The tour can begin from Cairo's Great Sphinx of Giza, the mystical creature of a lion's body and human's head, and take you to Alexandria's six-century-old Citadel of Qaitbay. You can also view St Catherine Monastery From the hill.

The virtual tour also covers Egypt's oldest churches and other famous landmarks. 

Google’s Street View images are images taken through sending live camera operators to capture the 360-degree images on foot. Google captures most of its images by cameras set atop of Street View cars. 

But the company was criticised - and on occasions sued - for concerns that Street View violated the privacy of individuals who appear in the images. Google eventually resorted to blurring faces on Street View images.

Egyptian Minister of Tourism Hisham Zaazou commented that this project will promote tourism in Egypt, "as it will provide an attraction to the increasing number of internet users," in a statement on the state-owned Akhbar Misr website.

The service provided by Google maps covers until now more than 7.2 million miles across more than 59 countries that include India, Brazil, London and Vienna.