Heliopolis حي مصر الجديدة وحي النزهة Masr al-Gadida and al-Nozha districts
Suburb (initial), two districts (today)
Heliopolis Location of Heliopolis within Egypt
Coordinates:30°06′N31°20′E / 30.100°N 31.333°E /30.100; 31.333
Country	Egypt
Governorate	Cairo
Established	1906; 119 years ago (1906)
Area
• Urban	25 km2 (9.7 sq mi)
Population
• Estimate  (2022-01)	387,000 (Masr al-Gadida and al-Nozha districts)
Time zone	UTC+2 (EET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+3 (EEST)

Heliopolis (Arabic:مصر الجديدة,romanized: Miṣr al-Jadīda,Egyptian Arabic pronunciation:[ˈmɑsˤɾelɡɪˈdiːdæ,-eɡ-],lit. "New Egypt") was an early 20th-centurysuburb outsideCairo,Egypt, which has since merged with Cairo and is administratively divided into the districts ofMasr El Gedida andEl Nozha in the Eastern Area.^[1]

Named after theancient Egyptian city ofHeliopolis, whose ruins have been found in nearbyAin Shams, modern Heliopolis was established in 1905 by theHeliopolis Oasis Company headed by the Belgian industrialistÉdouard Empain and byBoghos Nubar, son of the Egyptian Prime MinisterNubar Pasha.

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

Édouard Louis Joseph, 1stBaron Empain visited Egypt in January 1904 to rescue one of the projects of his companyS.A. des Chemins de Fer de la Basse-Egypte; the construction of a railway line linkingMansourah (on theNile river) toMatariya (on the far side ofLake Manzala fromPort Said).^[3]

In 1906, Empain established theCairo Electric Railways and Heliopolis Oases Company, which bought 2,500 hectares (6,200 acres) of desert around 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) to the northeast of Cairo to build a semi-autonomousgarden city of Heliopolis.^[3]

The new town represented the first large-scale attempt to promote its own architecture, known now as theHeliopolis 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 theHeliopolis Palace Hotel and Heliopolis House, and recreational amenities including a golf course, racetrack and park. Additionally, 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 thecolonial 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.^[4] Although there is no 'cordon sanitaire', there are some more implicit structures that made a more subtle segregation in the city possible.^[4]

Baron Empain'spalace was designed byAlexandre Marcel, a French architect and a member of theFrench Institute, according to a NeoHindu style modelled onAngkor Wat inCambodia and theHindu temples ofOrissa.^[5] The neighborhood had some of the wealthiest Egyptian residences; on the left facing Avenue Baron was the Arabesque palace of Boghos and MarieNubar Pasha, now a military headquarters, and diagonally opposite stands the former residence ofSultan Hussein Kamel, who reigned over Egypt between 1914 and 1917, and today, it is a presidential guest house.^[5]

The Heliopolis War Cemetery on Nabil el Wakkad street contains thePort Tewfik Memorial, a memorial to over 4,000 soldiers of theBritish Indian Army who fell in theFirst World War, which was originally in Port Tewfik inSuez, but was relocated to Heliopolis after its destruction in the 1970s.^[6]

Modern Heliopolis was originally filled primarily with aristocraticEgyptians, as well as some European nationals. Unlike other modern Cairo suburbs around the start of the 20th century, Heliopolis had a significantly larger percentage of Egyptian citizen residents. After the 1952 revolution led byNasser, 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. Due to the rising population of Cairo following the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, in the 1960s, President Nasser built the Nasr City as an extension to Heliopolis.

As of today, because of the large growth in population, the original gardens that filled the city have mostly been built over.

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

Masr al-Gadia had a population of 134,116 in 2017 divided into four shiakhas:^[7]

El-Nozha had 231,241 people in 2017 over its four shiakhas:^[7]

Note: The remaining shiakhas on the Nozha map are now part ofShorouk andBadr new cities under the jurisdiction of theNew Urban Communities Authority.

There are a number of places of worship in the district for all threeAbrahamic religions and many of their sects, reflecting thecosmopolitan intent of the early 20th-century colonial real estate project.Our Lady of Heliopolis Co-Cathedral is aRoman Catholic church on Al-Ahram Street and a famous landmark, and the burial place of Heliopolis' founderBaron Empain.^[8] Since 1951, Heliopolis was the seat of the Latin CatholicApostolic Vicariate of Heliopolis (founded asApostolic Prefecture of the Nile Delta) until its title was merged in 1987 into theApostolic Vicariate of Alexandria of Egypt. Its Marian former Our Lady cathedral remains aCo-cathedral. Other churches include theSaint Mark Coptic Orthodox Church, the Saint George Coptic Orthodox Church,^[9] the Saint-RitaMaronite Church, TheotokosGreek Orthodox Church, Sainte ThereseArmenian Catholic Church.

There is also the Vitali MadjarSynagogue on al-Masallah Street.^[10] 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.^[11]

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 hadLuna Park, Africa's firstamusement park (the grounds were converted into anAustralianfield hospital just after the onset ofWorld 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 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 andCity Stars Mall, one of the biggest and best-known shopping malls inEgypt and the Middle East.

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^[12] and home to historic landmarks like theBaron Empain Palace (Alexander Marcel) andBoghos Nubar Pasha Palace. Originally it was named "Le Courbet"French:the bow.^[13][14] It also houses the Basilica Church, the Korba Church andHeliopolis Hotel (now presidential palace). It is a popular area for strolling, shopping, cafes and restaurants.^[15]

Heliopolis gained a special political and military importance inEgypt and theMiddle East in recent decades. TheEgyptian Military headquarters and theEgyptian Air Force headquarters are there. The Almaza Military Airbase is very close to Heliopolis. Heliopolis was the residence of the Egyptian ex-presidentHosni Mubarak. In 1981, the site ofHeliopolis Palace Hotel became the Egyptian Republican Palace (Arabic:قصر رئاسة الجمهورية) and the president's office. It is also where the headquarters of theNation's Future Party, the current major political party of Egypt, is located.

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 number of residents has doubled several times since 1922. Atram system used to serve Heliopolis and parts of the surrounding area but it has been closed and removed entirely since 2015.^[16] By that time, Heliopolis was being integrated into theCairo underground metro'sLine 3, which now links it toGreater Cairo's easternsatellite cities, and to its western extension inGiza, throughAbassia,Downtown andZamalek. 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.^[17]

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 theNew Administrative Capital in the east to the city of Cairo.

This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(January 2015)

International schools:

• Lycée La Liberté Héliopolis^[18]
• Saint Fatima School

• Khaled Abulnaga, actor
• Anoushka, singer
• Charles Ayrout (1905–1965), architect
• Henry Habib Ayrout (1907–1969), sociologist
• Jani Christou (1926–1970), Greek composer
• Naglaa Fathi, actor
• Farag Foda (1945–1992), writer and activist
• Nxdia, musician

• Cairo Electric Railways and Heliopolis Oases Company
• Ancient Heliopolis
• Heliopolis style: the architectural style of Heliopolis
• New Heliopolis (suburb)

• Beattie, Andrew (2005).Cairo: A Cultural History. Oxford University Press. pp. 182–187.ISBN 978-0-19-517893-7.
• Dobrowolska, Agnieszka; Dobrowolski, Jaroslaw (2006).Heliopolis – Rebirth of the City of the Sun. American University in Cairo Press.ISBN 978-977-416-008-0.
• Elsheshtawy, Yasser (2004).Planning Middle Eastern Cities: An Urban Kaleidoscope in a Globalizing World. Routledge. pp. 144–151.ISBN 978-0-415-30400-9.
• Raafat, Samir (June 2005)."Once, We Hosted Kings".Egypt Today. Archived fromthe original on 13 September 2009.
• Van Loo, Anne; Bruwier, Marie-Cécile, eds. (2010).Héliopolis. Brussels: Fonds Mercator. p. 229.ISBN 978-90-6153-930-8.

Wikimedia Commons has media related toHeliopolis, Cairo.

• Heliopolis travel guide from Wikivoyage

• History of Cairo
• Neighbourhoods in Egypt
• Districts of Cairo
• Districts of Greater Cairo
• Populated places established in 1905

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