For many in Egypt, Port Said had never been a tourist attraction.
The city, where the Mediterranean meets the Suez Canal, had always been a trading hub, especially for duty-free goods arriving in Egypt from Europe.
However, this can never dampen out Port Said’s value as a charming city that deserves to be visited and placed on the Egyptian tourist map.
Port Said had always been an important transit point in journeys between Europe and Africa.
It is the point where the East meets the West.
Port Said’s construction as a city preceded the digging of the Suez Canal, the most important maritime route connecting the Mediterranean and the Red Sea.
It was named after the Khedive Said, the Mohamed Aly family member who ruled Egypt at the time.
Khedive Said decided to construct the city, despite all the challenges he faced on the road to achieve this goal, including the need to artificially expand the thin strip of sand between the Mediterranean and Lake Manzala to clear the way for the presence of enough land for the city’s construction.
The land eased the presence of the historic quarter of the city, along with a large number of three- and four-storey structures with splendid facades.
Most of the buildings constructed in the city had wooden verandas. Some of these verandas can still be seen in the old part of the city until the present.
At the time, the city’s architecture was unique and exceptional.
Some of the buildings of the historic quarter of Port Said hold another architectural treasure in the form of arcaded facades inspired by those in the Rue de Rivoli in Paris.
The arcaded façades started to appear as an alternative to the wooden verandas after 1889.
This came after the authorities in the city limited the construction of the verandas.
The city’s landmarks include the Garden of Martyrs, which contains a large ancient Egyptian obelisk.
These landmarks also include the Military Museum which contains depictions on the history of the Suez Canal and documentation on the 1956, 1967 and 1973 wars.
The strategic position of Port Said near the Suez Canal contributed to turning it into a foreign workers’ hub and a meeting point for travellers from every part of the world.
Those arriving in the city from other parts of the world added a cosmopolitan character to it.
Most of those who lived in Port Said in the 19th century were Europeans or of European origins.
The waterfront quarter is one of the areas most worthy of exploration in Port Said.
The area gives insights into the history of the city. It runs on Palestine Street along the edge of the canal on one side and a line of late 19th-century and early 20th-century buildings on the other.
In one end of the raised boardwalk stands the base of what used to be a statue of the French diplomat and Suez Canal developer Ferdinand de Lesseps welcoming ships entering the waterway before it was removed in 1956, following the canal’s nationalisation.
The corniche features other buildings of historical value, such as the Simon Arzt department store building, which was the first of its kind in the city.
At the southern tip of the waterfront, it is possible to take the Maadeya free ferry that connects with Port Fouad in a quick journey with unique panoramic views over the Suez Canal as well as the imposing administrative Suez Canal House and its distinctive green domes, erected in 1869 for the inauguration of the waterway.
Port Fouad, founded in 1925, preserves many French-inspired houses in tree-lined streets that stretch between the slender-shaped Juma Mosque in front of the ferry port and the Souk El Kebir Mosque.
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