When in the early years of the twentieth century the Belgian businessman Edouard Empain began to turn his dream of building an entirely new satellite city in the desert outside Cairo into a reality, he followed the then novel urban-planning concept of the “garden city.” But in naming his creation, he turned back to one of the most ancient sites in Egypt, the solar temple of Heliopolis, the biblical On, and in its architecture he sought inspiration in the heritage of Cairo’s Islamic tradition. When the city, known as “New Egypt” in Arabic, was completed, a half-hour tram ride through the desert was needed to reach it. Today, Heliopolis has been enveloped within the huge and ever-growing metropolis of Cairo. However, despite rapid development, overpopulation, and increasing traffic, Heliopolis has retained much of its original character and charm, and the captivating atmosphere of Egypt’s Belle Epoque is still tangible. Its houses, mosques, and churches, designed to imitate various styles of the past, have become historic buildings in their own right. This fully illustrated book introduces the reader to the history and development of Heliopolis through its architecture and its inhabitants past and present.
Heliopolis
Rebirth of the City of the Sun
When in the early years of the twentieth century the Belgian businessman Edouard Empain began to turn his dream of building an entirely new satellite
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Agnieszka Dobrowolska is a conservation architect who has worked on many archaeological and conservation sites in Egypt, and directed a number of architectural conservation projects in Historic Cairo for the American Research Center in Egypt. She is the author of <em>Muhammad Ali Pasha and His Sabil</em> (AUC Press 2004), <em>The Building Crafts of Cairo: A Living Tradition</em> (AUC Press, 2005), <em>Heliopolis: Rebirth of the City of the Sun</em> (AUC Press, 2006), and co-author of <em>The Sultan’s Fountain: An Imperial Story of Cairo, Istanbul, and Amsterdam</em> (AUC Press, 2011)
Jaroslaw Dobrowolski has worked in Egypt since the 1980s and is currently the technical director for the Egyptian Antiquities Project of the American Research Center in Egypt. He has worked on several architectural conservation projects in Egypt, including the sabil-kuttab of Nafisa al-Bayda in the neighborhood of Bab Zuwayla in Islamic Cairo.
