Egypt Commemorates 118th Anniversary of Heliopolis

Baron Empain palace's in Heliopolis. (Shutterstock)
Baron Empain palace's in Heliopolis. (Shutterstock)
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Egypt Commemorates 118th Anniversary of Heliopolis

Baron Empain palace's in Heliopolis. (Shutterstock)
Baron Empain palace's in Heliopolis. (Shutterstock)

Egypt held weeklong celebrations to mark the 118th anniversary of Heliopolis, or New Egypt, one of the capital Cairo’s most famous neighborhoods.

During Heliopolis Week, the ministries of tourism and communications organized a cultural and arts festival at the Granada Palace to highlight historic events from the neighborhood.

Heliopolis was established by Belgian Baron Édouard Empain in 1905 after the “Heliopolis Oases Company”, currently known as the “Heliopolis Company”, signed a contract to construct a railway line linking the Cairo city center to New Egypt. Empain began building the neighborhood over an area of 25 square kilometers and he later named it Heliopolis.

In a speech at a festival marking the end of Heliopolis Week on Thursday, Ahmed Issa, minister of Tourism and Antiquities, said: “New Egypt was born in the Cairo desert and it boasts several unique breathtaking sights, such as castles, gardens and places of worship.”

Cairo enjoys unique tourism characteristics that can transform it into one of the world’s greatest tourism cities, he stressed.

The Baron Empain palace is a major historic building in Heliopolis, a landmark, and a tourist attraction in the Egyptian capital, he noted.

In 2020, the Egyptian government opened the palace after renovation and development, and turned it into a museum that highlights the history of Heliopolis.

Built by the Barron on Salah Salem street on an area of 12,500 square meters, the palace dates back to 1911. French Architect Alexander Marcel was inspired from the Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia, and the Odisha Hindu temples.

Empain lived in the palace, whose belongings were auctioned in the early 1950s. It remained neglected until its ownership was transferred to the Egyptian culture ministry in 2007. Its renovation was completed in 2020.

The Heliopolis Heritage Foundation organized Heliopolis Week under the sponsorship of different government agencies. The festival was aimed at “putting Heliopolis on the tourism map,” according to officials at the ministry of antiquities and tourism.

The festival included seminars and panel discussions about the history of Heliopolis, and how to revive historic buildings and areas to boost tourism. It also included art exhibitions that highlighted the history of the neighborhood.

Issa said these activities “help shed light on the historic and touristic landmarks in Egypt,” noting recent renovations and restorations in several regions that will help boost the sector.

Egypt plans to attract 30 million foreign tourists by 2028 through the National Tourism Strategy that calls for developing aviation and improving the quality of services in the tourism sector.

Issa had previously revealed tourism to Egypt had grown by 43 percent in the first three months of 2023 compared with the same period last year. Fifteen million tourists are expected by the end of the year.



Albania Town Where Everything's Coming Up Roses

Ariana Nikolla prepares rosewater in the traditional way in Permet, Albania. Adnan Beci / AFP
Ariana Nikolla prepares rosewater in the traditional way in Permet, Albania. Adnan Beci / AFP
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Albania Town Where Everything's Coming Up Roses

Ariana Nikolla prepares rosewater in the traditional way in Permet, Albania. Adnan Beci / AFP
Ariana Nikolla prepares rosewater in the traditional way in Permet, Albania. Adnan Beci / AFP

In Permet, deep in the spectacular Vjosa Valley of southern Albania, roses rule supreme, whether used to make perfumes, flavored water or the Turkish delights sought out by thousands of sweet-toothed tourists.

"Here everything revolves around roses, from cooking with them to their medicinal virtues" -- everything is seen through rose-tinted glasses, joked biology teacher Ariana Nikolla.

Since she was little, the 57-year-old has been delicately picking the petals of her favorite variety, "the Groom's Rose", named for its delicate scent, AFP said.

In Permet roses are a ritual -- the first gift to a would-be lover. And they have to be pink, symbolizing love and fidelity.

Every family cultivates dozens of rose varieties in their garden, including the highly perfumed Damask and Provence roses, making the town famous across the Balkans for its artisanal rose water.

Yet it is almost impossible to buy -- it is just too valuable, say locals, who gift a few drops from time to time and jealously guard their reserves.

'Rose water is like love'

"Rose water is like love, it must be carefully tended," said veteran maker Resmie Tuci.

"The process of making high-quality rose water is difficult and meticulous. It requires very particular copper containers and you also have to use the right roses and select the ones with the most fragrant petals," said the 70-year-old.

The traditional method, passed from one generation to the next, is listed in Albania's national inventory of intangible cultural heritage.

First you stretch a cloth over a copper bowl laced with thread, itself placed inside a large, flat-bottomed basin filled with water.

Then the hand-picked rose petals are carefully placed on the cloth and covered with a flat stone topped with hot ashes from a fire.

The petals sweat underneath and yield up their precious rose water through condensation.

"It's a process that takes hours," Tuci told AFP. "But every drop is precious," chimes in Nikolla, filling a small bottle with rose water, which she will put in a sunny spot for several weeks before it is ready.

"It's as precious as gold," she added.

- Sweet delights -

Locals use it for its supposed benefits, from soothing irritated eyes to an anti-inflammatory cream to help calm itching. And, of course, in cooking.

Eftali Qerimi, 63, swears by it.

The almond rose water cakes she bakes in her workshop are unlike any other local "llokums".

Made with only almond powder, sugar and rosewater, the rose-shaped fancies mark important events for families in the region.

Considered lucky charms, they are served at birthdays, weddings and baby showers. With the women in her workshop, Qerimi produces up to 10 kilos of Turkish delights a day, which she sells at 50 euros a kilo.

Occasionally she makes small ones shaped like baby feet -- a way, according to tradition, to wish newborns a long life.

Between batches, the women make rose petal jam, its fragrance filling the workshop.

"The rose is everything for us; it symbolizes the heart, love and life's happiness," said Qerimi, who is hard at work with the tourism high season about to begin.

"Tourists flock to the town and after the natural beauties" of the valley, with its famous gorges and natural park, "they also want to taste its culinary delights", she smiled.