By Ali Abu Dashish and Salma Yassin
CAIRO, Feb. 1 (SEE) –As ministry of antiquities is seeking to put Rosetta city in UNESCO World Heritage Sites list, The following lines review the significance of the city and state’s efforts to develop it.
Rosetta city dates back to pharaonic era and is considered the most significant archaeological Egyptian city that represents Islamic architecture’s wonderfulness.
In the same context, it was one of the effective castles in repelling invasions against Egypt from the west.
Its first name was “Rakhet”, which means “the known” as it overlooked the river, then named “Rashet”, and later “Rosetta”.
Rosetta stone
It dates back to the era of King Ptolemy V, and it is the reason behind the international reputation of Rosetta city.
It was detected by Pierre Francois Bouchard, a soldier in the French campaign against Egypt in 1799, in “Saint Julian” castle; which is currently known as “Rosetta castle”.
This stone was the main key by which the ancient Egyptian language was deciphered by the Famous French Scientist Jean-Francois Champollion in 14th of September 1822, and is currently placed in the British Museum.
Mosques
All archaeological mosques built in Rosetta city date back to Ottoman empire.
In terms of reflecting charm of Islamic art, some of the mosques consist of uncovered atriums and porches, and the others are in the form of covered square and rectangular huge buildings,
Some of their names are “Zaghloul Mosque”, “the silent”, “the light”, “the local”, “the soldier” and “Abbasie”.
Old-fashioned Homes
The main popular homes are Hasiba Ghazal, Al-Bakrouli, , Muharram, Asfour, Al Mizouni, Ramadan and Hammam Azzouz.
Rosetta castle
It was founded in 1428, to repel crusades against state’s coasts in Egypt and the Levant.
About 19 monumental pieces were uncovered in this castle, including “Rosetta stone”.
National Museum
It’s located in the center of Rosetta city and contained the home of Arab Hussein Bey, the city’s governor during Ottoman Empire.
In 1959, it was inaugurated as a war museum, and later in 1986, it was developed to represent Rosetta city’s history.
The 3-floor museum includes some properties and documents expressing how people were struggling against British and French colonialism.
Also, some of these properties reflect the daily life routine throughout Ottoman Empire like exchanged coins, crafts and industries
State’s development scheme
President Abdel Fattah El Sisi has launched Rosetta development project during the 4th national youth conference held in Alexandria.
This development scheme includes; developing regions nearby the citadel and the Nile beside linking them with Alexandria governorate, and improving the corniche route from the citadel till fishing port in Rosetta.
Furthermore, it implies developing Abo el Ghaz region and routs of road trips and Nile cruises.
Another areas implied in the scheme are; Orabi Square and both the King Dahaliz and the market streets.
Slum areas and regions behind Zaghlol mosque till Abasie Mosque are also expected to be renewed, as well as constructing some new hotels.
According to the agreement held between the cabinet and both ministries of antiquities and planning, 125 million pounds were invested this year to contribute in implementing the development scheme
Putting the city in UNESCO list
Head of Islamic Antiquities Sector Gamal Mostafa said that ministry of antiquities is about to handle to UNESCO a detailed file about Rosetta city, in order to include it in the organization’s world heritage sites list, as it has been added to the preliminary list since 2003.
Follow the latest news on Google News
