Abbassia ( ar, العباسية ) is a neighbourhood in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. The

Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral, Cairo St. Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral is a Coptic church located in the Abbassia District in Cairo, Egypt. The cathedral is the Seat of the Coptic Orthodox Pope. It was built during the time when Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria was Pope of the Coptic ...

is located in Abbassia. The medical faculty of

Ain Shams University Ain Shams University ( ar, جامعة عين شمس) is a public university located in Cairo, Egypt. Founded in 1950, the university provides education at the undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate levels. History Ain Shams University was fou ...

and its affiliate hospital units are located in Abbassia. The Abbassia metro station is located here, as well.

History

The modern district of Abbassia is named after Abbas Helmy Pasha and was built upon an older

Coptic Coptic may refer to: Afro-Asia * Copts, an ethnoreligious group mainly in the area of modern Egypt but also in Sudan and Libya * Coptic language, a Northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century * Coptic alphabet ...

village called p-Sovt em-p-Hoi ( "the wall of the moat") or later Shats ( "the moat") which is a calque on the latter Arabic al-Khandaq ( "the moat"). In 1865 an

observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. His ...

, principally for meteorological work, was founded at Abbassia, by the Khedive

Isma'il Pasha Isma'il Pasha ( ar, إسماعيل باشا ; 12 January 1830 – 2 March 1895), was the Khedive of Egypt and conqueror of Sudan from 1863 to 1879, when he was removed at the behest of Great Britain. Sharing the ambitious outlook of his gran ...

, and maintained continuously there for nearly forty years. The building lay on the boundary between the cultivated

Nile Delta The Nile Delta ( ar, دلتا النيل, or simply , is the delta formed in Lower Egypt where the Nile River spreads out and drains into the Mediterranean Sea. It is one of the world's largest river deltas—from Alexandria in the west to Po ...

and the desert but then with urban encroachment, it was decided in 1904, to move the meteorological work to

Helwan Helwan ( ar, حلوان ', , cop, ϩⲁⲗⲟⲩⲁⲛ, Halouan) is a city in Egypt and part of Greater Cairo, on the bank of the Nile, opposite the ruins of Memphis. Originally a southern suburb of Cairo, it served as the capital of the now de ...

. The Observatory at Abbassia was an empty monument until 1952. Abbassia and the nearby region, saw heavy rainfall during a period of time

geological Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Eart ...

researchers call the Pluvial Abbassia. During this period, red, green and purple rocks or

gravel Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally throughout the world as a result of sedimentary and erosive geologic processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gravel is classifi ...

became distributed all along the valley and Delta regions of the Nile. Gravel beds were formed, including a famous gravel bed at Abbassia. Photographed and described in 1926 by

Paul Bovier-Lapierre Reverend Father Paul Bovier-Lapierre (1873–1950) was a French Jesuit archaeologist, notable for his work on prehistory in Egypt and surveys in southern Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republ ...

, these gravel beds were as thick as 33 feet (10 metres/meters) in some areas. In the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, during which Egypt was the scene of heavy fighting, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

located its

Royal Armoured Corps The Royal Armoured Corps is the component of the British Army, that together with the Household Cavalry provides its armour capability, with vehicles such as the Challenger 2 Tank and the Scimitar Reconnaissance Vehicle. It includes most of the A ...

School in Abbassia. In September 1941, an

Italian Air Force , colours = , colours_label = , march = (Ordinance March of the Air Force) by Alberto Di Miniello , mascot = , anniversaries = 28 March ...

plane bombed a

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

depot Depot ( or ) may refer to: Places * Depot, Poland, a village * Depot Island, Kemp Land, Antarctica * Depot Island, Victoria Land, Antarctica * Depot Island Formation, Greenland Brands and enterprises * Maxwell Street Depot, a restaurant in ...

in Abbassia. The Cathedral of Saint Mark in Abbassia was the site of the 2012 funeral for

Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria Pope Shenouda III (; cop, Ⲡⲁⲡⲁ Ⲁⲃⲃⲁ Ϣⲉⲛⲟⲩϯ ⲅ̅ '; ar, بابا الإسكندرية شنودة الثالث '; 3 August 1923 – 17 March 2012) was the List of Coptic Orthodox Popes of Alexandria, 117th ...

, attracting more than two million mourners from around the world. A queue of over one kilometer in length formed to view the body of the pope, and as people pushed to get close, three people were crushed to death and 137 were injured. During the continued 2012 protests of the

Egyptian Revolution of 2011 The 2011 Egyptian revolution, also known as the 25 January revolution ( ar, ثورة ٢٥ يناير; ), began on 25 January 2011 and spread across Egypt. The date was set by various youth groups to coincide with the annual Egyptian "Police ho ...

, Abbassia was the scene of confrontations between protesters and armed gangs. On December 11, 2016 a chapel next to the

Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral St. Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral is a Coptic church located in the Abbassia District in Cairo, Egypt. The cathedral is the Seat of the Coptic Orthodox Pope. It was built during the time when Pope Cyril VI of Alexandria was Pope of the Coptic ...

was the site of a suicide bombing against Egypt's Coptic community. Of the 25 Copts who died in the explosion, most were women and children. The army was deployed to the site and Egypt began three days of mourning.

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Cairo Governorate Districts of Cairo Geography of Egypt

History

See also

References