Tourism: Developing Rashid (Rosetta)

Egypt Daily Star News (Ahmed Maged)

Although it lies a mere 65 km east of Alexandria, few tourists venture out to its neighboring city of Rosetta, known in Egypt as Rashid.

As the historic city makes the transition from a mostly agricultural society to a tourist destination, Rashid’s residents are skeptical about how tourism will shape their future, especially as the slow progress in the LE 140 million development plan which kicked off a year and a half ago, complicated by dire social and economic factors, promises little in the short term.

The plan would have the city’s infrastructure rebuilt and its Islamic monuments restored between 2007-11, all as part of a nationwide scheme to revamp 222 Egyptian cities by 2027.

Anyone familiar with Rashid would immediately see the signs of change. Besides the creation of a sea-front promenade on the southern part of the city, the Rashid Fort in the north and several traditional houses have also undergone massive restoration.

One of the two cities located on the Nile’s estuary at the Mediterranean (the other being Damietta 300 km away) the city with a meager population of 70,000 has a historical significance that outstrips is small size.

Home to the Rosetta Stone, which French scholar Jean-Francoise Champollion used to decipher Ancient hieroglyphics, Rashid was the scene of the first encounter between East and West in modern times. Napoleon Bonaparte made Rashid one of his main fortifications when he invaded Egypt in 1798.

The Rashid estuary, known as the Bughaz, is much wider than its counterpart in Damietta and stretches for several kilometers along the coast.

The city is home to 22 old Arabic houses, 12 mosques and a traditional Turkish bath, and according to archaeologists, it houses the second largest number of Islamic antiquities in Egypt after Cairo.