Belqas ( ar, بلقاس, ) is a town located in the north-western corner of the
Dakahlia Governorate
Dakahlia Governorate ( ar, محافظة الدقهلية ', ) is an Egyptian governorate lying northeast of Cairo. Its area is approximately 3,500 km2. Although the capital of the governorate is Mansoura, it got its name from the ancient to ...
in
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 Medit ...
.
Etymology
The towns older name is al-Mima wa-l-Maaskar () points out that the modern name probably comes from . It is also a site of the old
Coptic monastery called Deir al-Mema or Deir al-Askar.
Economy
One part of the town's economy is the resort of Gamasa. The town also depends on its
natural gas
Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...
fields in the region of ''Abu Mady''. Belqas remains a mainly agricultural region, although it contains some industrial activities such as sugar, rice and plastic productions.
Belqas also depends on its car maintenance and restoration facility, restoring vehicles to factory standards (especially for the Peugot and Mercedes Benz).
Location
Belqas is located near the city of
Mansoura
Mansoura (' , rural: ) is a city in Egypt, with a population of 960,423. It is the capital of the Dakahlia Governorate.
Etymology
''Mansoura'' in Arabic means "victorious". The city is named after the El Mansoura Battle against Louis IX of Fr ...
and the town of Gamasa. Belqas is in the governorates of Dakahlia and
Kafr el-Sheikh, and is located in the center of Sherbin,
Garaida,
Talkha
Talkha ( ar, طلخا ) is a city in Dakahlia Governorate, Egypt.
The city is located on the west bank of the Damietta, a distributary of the Nile in the Delta region. Is about 120 km northeast of Cairo. Talkha is situated opposite th ...
and Gamasa. Belqas is located on the coordinates .
Sites of interest
Belqas is home to ancient palaces and
villa
A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...
s which were once owned by princes and merchants. One of these tourist attractions in the jurisdictions of Belqas is the
Coptic Orthodox
The Coptic Orthodox Church ( cop, Ϯⲉⲕ̀ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀ⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ, translit=Ti.eklyseya en.remenkimi en.orthodoxos, lit=the Egyptian Orthodox Church; ar, الكنيسة القبطي ...
monastery
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whi ...
of
Saint Demiana.
See also
*
List of cities and towns in Egypt
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
References
Populated places in Dakahlia Governorate
{{OrientalOrthodoxy-stub