The Cairo Luna Park was a

trolley park In the United States, trolley parks, which started in the 19th century, were picnic and recreation areas along or at the ends of streetcar lines in most of the larger cities. These were precursors to amusement parks. Trolley parks were often cre ...

located in Heliopolis,

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

. Open from 1911 until early 1915, it was the first Western-style

amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

and the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

.Yasser Elsheshtawy, ''Planning Middle Eastern Cities: An Urban Kaleidoscope in an Urbanizing World'' (Routledge, 2004), On 19 January 1915, the park’s buildings and grounds were converted into an auxiliary hospital during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

; the hospital closed on 10 July 1916.

Amusement park

Heliopolis, planned as an "

oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

, was developed in the early 20th century. Following a 1907 stock market crash, developers partnered with the Egyptian government to construct housing for government workers and added entertainment venues to attract residents. These included a

hippodrome Hippodrome is a term sometimes used for public entertainment venues of various types. A modern example is the Hippodrome which opened in London in 1900 "combining circus, hippodrome, and stage performances". The term hippodroming refers to fr ...

polo Polo is a stick and ball game that is played on horseback as a traditional field sport. It is one of the world's oldest known team sports, having been adopted in the Western world from the game of Chovgan (), which originated in ancient ...

and

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

fields, an

aerodrome An aerodrome, airfield, or airstrip is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for public or private use. Aerodromes inc ...

, a

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a teeing ground, tee box, a #Fairway and rough, fairway, the #Fairway and rough, rough and other hazard (golf), hazards, and ...

, restaurants, and a new

tram A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which Rolling stock, vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some ...

line from Cairo. Around 1910, the Luna Park amusement park was constructed—Africa and the Middle East's first of its kind. It opened to the public on 16 June 1911, featuring mechanical rides (including a switchback

roller coaster A roller coaster is a type of list of amusement rides, amusement ride employing a form of elevated Railway track, railroad track that carries passengers on a roller coaster train, train through tight turns, steep slopes, and other elements, usua ...

), a midway, a

roller skating Roller skating is the act of travelling on surfaces with roller skates. It is a recreation, recreational activity, a sport, and a form of transportation. Roller rinks and skate parks are built for roller skating, though it also takes place on s ...

rink, and restaurants."Serjeant-Major, R.A.M.C.", ''With the R.A.M.C. in Egypt'' (Cassell, 1918)Martin Shaw Briggs, ''Through Egypt in War-Time'' (T.F. Unwin, 1918)

World War I auxiliary hospital

With the outbreak of

in late 1914, the

Australian and New Zealand Army Corps The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) was originally a First World War army corps of the British Empire under the command of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. It was formed in Egypt in December 1914, and operated during the ...

(ANZAC) under General

William Birdwood Field marshal (United Kingdom), Field Marshal William Riddell Birdwood, 1st Baron Birdwood (13 September 1865 – 17 May 1951), was a British Army officer. He saw active service in the Second Boer War on the staff of Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl ...

established No. 1

Australian General Hospital Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

at the nearby

Heliopolis Palace Hotel Heliopolis (Greek for "Sun City") may refer to: Places * Heliopolis (ancient Egypt), also known as Heliopolis in Augustamnica * Heliopolis, Cairo, a suburb or district of Cairo, Egypt ** Heliopolis Sporting Club ** Heliopolis University in Cair ...

. Due to increasing demand, the ANZACs expanded the hospital to Luna Park, beginning with the ice skating rink.Casualty Clearance (2)
- ANZAC Day Commemoration CommitteeJan Bassett, ''Guns and Brooches'' (Cambridge University Press, 1989) By 28 April 1915, over 500 beds were placed in the rink, and more makeshift wards were set up in the haunted house, scenic railroad, and pavilions. The

box office A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicket. ...

was converted into an operating theatre. By mid-May 1915, Luna Park accommodated over 1,200 patients—many on beds made from

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...

and

palm wood The Arecaceae () is a family of perennial, flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are colloquially ...

. More auxiliary branches were soon added. In August 1915, the patient count reached 1,400. The auxiliary hospital closed on 10 July 1916 when the main hospital moved to France. Note: This facility should not be confused with the official No. 1 Australian Auxiliary Hospital, which opened at Harefield, England, in March 1915.Theodora Roscoe, ''The History of Harefield: Compiled for Wounded Australians at Harefield Park Hospital'' (Harefield Park Boomerang Committee, 1918)

Aftermath

now occupies the former site of Luna Park. While some buildings around the park remain, no trace of the original attraction survives. It is believed that Luna Park was demolished between 1929 and 1933.

References

{{coord, 30.092718, 31.315358, display=title Defunct amusement parks History of Cairo Buildings and structures in Cairo Military installations of Australia Military installations of New Zealand New Zealand in World War I Military history of Australia during World War I Military installations of Egypt World War I sites in Egypt Amusement parks opened in 1911 Amusement parks closed in 1915