Heliopolis, Cairo

Coordinates: 30°06′N 31°20′E / 30.100°N 31.333°E / 30.100; 31.333
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
(Redirected from
Heliopolis (Cairo suburb)
)
For the ancient Egyptian site located in the Cairo of
Ayn Shams, see Heliopolis (ancient Egypt)
.
Heliopolis
حي مصر الجديدة وحي النزهة
Masr al-Gadida and al-Nozha districts
Suburb (initial), two districts (today)
Governorate
Cairo
Area
 • Urban
25 km2 (10 sq mi)
Population
 • Estimate 
(2022-01)
387,000 (Masr al-Gadida and al-Nozha districts)
Time zoneUTC+02:00 (EST)
The exterior of Baron Empain Palace

Heliopolis (

Egyptian Arabic: مصر الجديدة, Maṣr el-Gedīda, [ˈmɑsˤɾ el ɡɪˈdiːdæ, -eɡ-], lit. "New Egypt") was an early 20th century suburb outside Cairo, Egypt, which has since merged with Cairo and is administratively divided into the districts of Masr El Gedida and El Nozha in the Eastern Area.[1]

Named after the

Heliopolis Oasis Company headed by the Belgian industrialist Édouard Empain and by Boghos Nubar, son of the Egyptian Prime Minister Nubar Pasha
.

The population in January 2022 of Masr El Gedida was estimated to be 142,017 and in El-Nozha was 244,869 people.[2]

History

Coptic churches in Heliopolis
Sultana Malak Palace
, which became a school in 1960

Édouard Louis Joseph, 1st Baron Empain visited Egypt in January 1904 to rescue one of the projects of his company S.A. des Chemins de Fer de la Basse-Egypte; the construction of a railway line linking Mansourah (on the Nile river) to Matariya (on the far side of Lake Manzala from Port Said).[3]

In 1906, Empain established the Cairo Electric Railways and Heliopolis Oases Company, which bought 2500 ha (6177 acres) of desert around 10km to the northeast of Cairo to build a semi-autonomous garden city of Heliopolis.[4]

The new town represented the first large-scale attempt to promote its own architecture, known now as the Heliopolis style. It was designed as a "city of luxury and leisure", with broad avenues and equipped with all conveniences and infrastructure: water, drains, electricity, hotel facilities, such as the Heliopolis Palace Hotel and Heliopolis House, and recreational amenities including a golf course, racetrack and park. In addition, there was housing for rent, offered in a range of innovative designs targeting specific social classes with detached and terraced villas, apartment buildings, tenement blocks with balcony access and workers' bungalows.

While Heliopolis had features that were fundamentally different from the colonial planning in other African and Asian countries, it was an undertaking that could not have been more colonial. The project was the expression of a dream of one man, the Belgian Edouard Empain, and the buildings were designed by Belgian, French and British architects and, in the beginning, built with materials brought from these countries.[5] And although there is no ‘cordon sanitaire’, there are some more implicit structures that made a more subtle segregation in the city possible.[5]

Baron Empain's

Sultan Hussein Kamel, who reigned over Egypt between 1914 and 1917, and today, it is a presidential guest house.[6]

The Heliopolis War Cemetery on Nabil el Wakkad street contains the

First World War, which was originally in Port Tewfik in Suez, but was relocated to Heliopolis after its destruction in the 1970s.[7]

Modern Heliopolis was originally filled primarily with aristocratic

Egyptians, as well as some European nationals. Unlike other modern Cairene suburbs around the start of the 20th century, Heliopolis had a significantly larger percentage of Egyptian citizen residents. After the 1952 revolution led by Nasser
, it became home to much of Cairo's educated upper and middle class. As Cairo has expanded, the once large distance between Heliopolis and Cairo has vanished and it is now well inside the city. Because of the large growth in population, the original gardens that filled the city have mostly been built over.

Administrative divisions and population

Heliopolis today is administratively divided into the districts of Masr El-Gedida and El-Nozha in the Eastern Area of Cairo.[1]

Masr al-Gadia had a population of 134,116 in 2017 divided into four shiakhas:[8]

Shiakha Code 2017 Population
Muntazah, el- 013903 17,923
Manshiyyat el-Bakri 013904 48,414
Bustân, el- 013901 34,616
Almâẓa 013902 33,163
Administrative map of Masr el-Gedida district, Cairo, Egypt (In Arabic)

El-Nozha had 231,241 people in 2017 over its four shiakhas:[8]

Shiakha Code 2017 Population
Sheraton el-Maṭâr (Sheraton airport) 013804 60,482
Nuzha, al- 013801 47,570
Maṭâr el-Qahira (Cairo airport) 013803 77,465
Hâykstib, el- (Huckstep) 013802 45,724

Note: The remaining shiakhas on the Nozha map are now part of Shorouk and Badr new cities under the jurisdiction of the New Urban Communities Authority.

Administrative map of el-Nozha district, Cairo, Egypt (In Arabic)

Religious buildings

There are a number of places of worship in the district for all three

Apostolic Prefecture of the Nile Delta) until its title was merged in 1987 into the Apostolic Vicariate of Alexandria of Egypt. Its Marian former Our Lady cathedral remains a Co-cathedral. Other churches include the Saint Mark Coptic Orthodox Church, the Saint George Coptic Orthodox Church,[10] the Saint-Rita Maronite Church, Theotokos Greek Orthodox Church, Sainte Therese Armenian Catholic Church
.

There is also the Vitali Madjar Synagogue on al-Masallah Street.[11] A large number of mosques now populate Heliopolis, though initially there was only one, the Mosque on Midan al-Game' next to the 'native quarter' where the workers originally lived.[12]

Recreational facilities

Heliopolis Sporting Club in 2007

Heliopolis contains recreational places, as it was initially established to offer its residents and visitors rest and relaxation. Heliopolis club is one of the most luxurious sporting clubs in Egypt. It was established along with Heliopolis in 1905. From 1911 until 1915, Heliopolis had Luna Park, Africa's first amusement park (the grounds were converted into an Australian field hospital just after the onset of World War I).

The Merryland is also a famous recreational park; it contains a lake and was at the height of its elegance in the 1960s and 70s. It now contains a small amusement park. Other sporting clubs include El Shams Club (biggest in size and number of members), Heliolido club, El-Ghaba club, El-Tayaran club and others.

Heliopolis contains modern cafes (including Harris, Starbucks, Cilantro, Costa Coffee, and Beanos) and restaurants along with some Egyptian traditional ones. Some bars and nightclubs can be found. Tens of cinemas can be found in Heliopolis and its extension, Madinet Nasr (Nasr City); Normandy Cinema in Al-Ahram street, Cinema Roxy, Cinema Heliopolis along with the new cinemas in Horia Mall and City Stars Mall, one of the biggest and best-known shopping malls in Egypt and the Middle East.

Korba

The triangular El-Korba Square on Baghdad Street and the area surrounding it, popularly known as Korba, is one of the city's favorite public spaces↔︎

Alexander Marcel) and Boghos Nubar Pasha Palace. Originally it was named "Le Courbet" French: the bow.[14][15] It also houses the Basilica Church, the Korba Church and Heliopolis Hotel
(now presidential palace). It´s a popular area for strolling, shopping, cafés and retaurants. [16]

Political importance

Heliopolis gained a special political and military importance in

Arabic
: قصر رئاسة الجمهورية) and the president's office.

The present and the future

In contrast with its initial establishment as a quiet suburb, Heliopolis now is considered a main part of Cairo. It is home to celebrities, football players, politicians and wealthy families. The numbers of residents have doubled several times since 1922. A

Cairo underground metro's Line 3, which now links it to Greater Cairo's eastern satellite cities, and to its westen extension in Giza, through Abassia, Downtown and Zamalek. Local Heliopolis stations are Koleyet El Banat, Al Ahram, Haroun, Heliopolis Square, Alf Maskan, El-Shams Club, and El-Nozha. The Heliopolis extension of Line 3 was completed in 2018.[18]

In 2019 and 2020, major changes to the infrastructure have occurred including widening several streets and building several bridges to ease traffic (mainly instead of major squares). This is also part of a bigger plan to link the New Administrative Capital in the east to the city of Cairo.

Education

International schools:

Notable people

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Areas". www.cairo.gov.eg. Retrieved 2023-02-09.
  2. ^ "Population of the Eastern Area" (PDF). cairo.gov.eg (in Arabic). 2022-01-01. Retrieved 2023-02-09.
  3. ^ BELGIAN COMPANIES IN EGYPT* Archived 14 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine at www.booneshares.com
  4. ^ BELGIAN COMPANIES IN EGYPT* Archived 14 March 2007 at the Wayback Machine at www.booneshares.com
  5. ^ a b Willem, Tim (2015). "HELIOPOLIS: a colonial enterprise that became an urban success". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  6. ^ a b Rafaat, Samir (1995-05-09). "WHO BUILT THE PALACE, COUNT DRACULA OR BARON EMPAIN?". www.egy.com. Retrieved 2023-02-09.
  7. ^ "Cemetery Details | CWGC".
  8. ^ a b Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) (2017). "2017 Census for Population and Housing Conditions". CEDEJ-CAPMAS. Retrieved 2023-02-21.
  9. ISBN 9789774249730
    .
  10. ^ Saint George Coptic Orthodox Church (in Arabic)
  11. ^ "Vitali Madjar Synagogue at Cairo, Egypt | Archive | Diarna.org". archive.diarna.org. Retrieved 2023-02-09.
  12. ^ Ilbert, Robert (1985). "Heliopolis: Colonial Enterprise and Town Planning Success?". www.archnet.org. Retrieved 2023-02-09.
  13. ^ Murshed, Sally. "Enabling quality of urban spaces in Cairo's new suburban settlements: a community character approach for New Cairo, Egypt". Retrieved 11 March 2024.
  14. ^ "Cairo Famous Squares details". Cairo Governorate. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
  15. ^ "El Korba". AFAR Media. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
  16. ^ "GOING FOR A WALK: AL-KORBA". Al Rahalah. 11 April 2010. Retrieved 11 March 2024.
  17. ^ Ezzat, Amira; Ibrahim, Abeer (27 January 2016). "Good bye, Heliopolis metro". Watani International. Retrieved 2019-03-05.
  18. ^ "تعرف على مشروع مترو "هارون النزهة" بمصر الجديدة وموعد إنهائه فى 8 معلومات - اليوم السابع". اليوم السابع (in Arabic). 2017-04-30. Retrieved 2017-05-17.
  19. ^ "Contact Us." Lycée La Liberté Héliopolis. Retrieved on 24 January 2015. "82 El Orouba St., Heliopolis, Cairo Governorate, Egypt" Map.

Further reading

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Heliopolis, Cairo.
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