HELIOPOLIS The Dream of a Baron
The audible rumble of the tram’s wheels herald its arrival to the station of Heliopolis, just as the date clock clicked over to 1910.
In the same era a Belgium Engineer, Baron Empain bought a plot of Egyptian desert, found a French architect to build an Indian Palace for a residence and a scale model of Saint Sophia’s Cathedral in Istanbul for a church.
Now time travel to present day Heliopolis and the characters are still as cosmopolitan. I am being given a history lesson by a Latin Catholic Priest about New Cairo or Masr El Gedida, now known as Heliopolis which means City of the Sun.
In the early 1900’s Cairo was a fashionable place for Europeans to have a second residence, particularly on the banks of the Nile. Enter the Baron; his vision was to create Utopia in the middle of the Desert. His business was electricity and trams, thus providing the means for residents to travel to their workplaces in downtown, a 12 kilometre journey through empty desert with sand as far as the eye could see. His original reason for being in Cairo was to create a railway from Cairo to Ismalia. Being a Man of foresight, his other business interests included banking, so he set up a bank to finance this dream.
Heliopolis was quickly considered “the jewel in the sand”, and became an envied location. The government required that 5/6 of the 25 square kilometre land site be allocated for the people to use. This impacted on his town plan with a wide promenade leading from his palace past the church to a racetrack. The resulting affect is a lavish feeling of wide-open spaces.
The Baron’s Palace (Qasr al-Barun) is a replica of one of the Indian temples of Madora; Hindu inspired reliefs of snakes, elephants, Shivas and temple dancers adorn the ornamentally rich facades.
The Basilica is in the historical heart of Heliopolis. Modeled on Istanbul’s Aya Sofya and its Byzantine style, it is affectionately known as the “Jelly Mould”. The interior has its own riches, stained glass windows, a large organ from Belgium towers over the congregation while granite pillars floated from Aswan provide the foundations for the light filled unadorned dome.
Father Mattie, my historian offered another hidden gem, the Baron’s mausoleum which is housed in the floor of the church. With a wonderful sense of theatre the carpet is rolled back and a portal is opened by a 3 ft turnkey placed in the altar floor. As the key is turned the floor at the base of the altar moves and steps appear; Oh! a hidden room. He beckons, down the marble steps and into the crypt of Baron Empain and his son. It’s sombre with a large dark sarcophagus, 2 photographs of father and son and the family crest, which signifies the Sun of Heliopolis, the River Nile, 2 lotus flowers and the Belgium crown. On the walls marble plaques tell of the 2 men’s achievements, which are filled with remarkable deeds and accolades. The senior Baron was also responsible for the Paris Metro and other rail projects from the Congo to China.
Around the Basilica are towers built to resemble Istanbul and its neo-Moorish skylines. During the earthquake of 1992, the top portion of these towers fell off. Looking north in front of the church is Al-Ahram Sharia in the past it was also known as “the street of the Pyramids” as it ran in a line to the pyramids of Giza.
The next stop on the town plan is the racecourse built on the present Merrylands gardens. Father Mattie tells a delightful story: the racetrack had a secondary purpose apart from entertainment. All the fastest horses in town would race there so the Officials and the Wealthy bought the fastest winners in case there was a rebellion. Whether it was to enable them to catch the bad guys or to run away, we shall never know.
Heliopolis celebrated its 100th birthday last year and I am sure the Baron would be delighted to know that 75% of the buildings erected before 1937 are still standing. His dream has become history and the trams still rumble past echoing life.
In the same era a Belgium Engineer, Baron Empain bought a plot of Egyptian desert, found a French architect to build an Indian Palace for a residence and a scale model of Saint Sophia’s Cathedral in Istanbul for a church.
Now time travel to present day Heliopolis and the characters are still as cosmopolitan. I am being given a history lesson by a Latin Catholic Priest about New Cairo or Masr El Gedida, now known as Heliopolis which means City of the Sun.
In the early 1900’s Cairo was a fashionable place for Europeans to have a second residence, particularly on the banks of the Nile. Enter the Baron; his vision was to create Utopia in the middle of the Desert. His business was electricity and trams, thus providing the means for residents to travel to their workplaces in downtown, a 12 kilometre journey through empty desert with sand as far as the eye could see. His original reason for being in Cairo was to create a railway from Cairo to Ismalia. Being a Man of foresight, his other business interests included banking, so he set up a bank to finance this dream.
Heliopolis was quickly considered “the jewel in the sand”, and became an envied location. The government required that 5/6 of the 25 square kilometre land site be allocated for the people to use. This impacted on his town plan with a wide promenade leading from his palace past the church to a racetrack. The resulting affect is a lavish feeling of wide-open spaces.
The Baron’s Palace (Qasr al-Barun) is a replica of one of the Indian temples of Madora; Hindu inspired reliefs of snakes, elephants, Shivas and temple dancers adorn the ornamentally rich facades.
The Basilica is in the historical heart of Heliopolis. Modeled on Istanbul’s Aya Sofya and its Byzantine style, it is affectionately known as the “Jelly Mould”. The interior has its own riches, stained glass windows, a large organ from Belgium towers over the congregation while granite pillars floated from Aswan provide the foundations for the light filled unadorned dome.
Father Mattie, my historian offered another hidden gem, the Baron’s mausoleum which is housed in the floor of the church. With a wonderful sense of theatre the carpet is rolled back and a portal is opened by a 3 ft turnkey placed in the altar floor. As the key is turned the floor at the base of the altar moves and steps appear; Oh! a hidden room. He beckons, down the marble steps and into the crypt of Baron Empain and his son. It’s sombre with a large dark sarcophagus, 2 photographs of father and son and the family crest, which signifies the Sun of Heliopolis, the River Nile, 2 lotus flowers and the Belgium crown. On the walls marble plaques tell of the 2 men’s achievements, which are filled with remarkable deeds and accolades. The senior Baron was also responsible for the Paris Metro and other rail projects from the Congo to China.
Around the Basilica are towers built to resemble Istanbul and its neo-Moorish skylines. During the earthquake of 1992, the top portion of these towers fell off. Looking north in front of the church is Al-Ahram Sharia in the past it was also known as “the street of the Pyramids” as it ran in a line to the pyramids of Giza.
The next stop on the town plan is the racecourse built on the present Merrylands gardens. Father Mattie tells a delightful story: the racetrack had a secondary purpose apart from entertainment. All the fastest horses in town would race there so the Officials and the Wealthy bought the fastest winners in case there was a rebellion. Whether it was to enable them to catch the bad guys or to run away, we shall never know.
Heliopolis celebrated its 100th birthday last year and I am sure the Baron would be delighted to know that 75% of the buildings erected before 1937 are still standing. His dream has become history and the trams still rumble past echoing life.
Labels: travel
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