Tourism and Antiquities in Damietta

A Historical Perspective Since the establishment of Damietta, Ras el-Barr has been a suburb. Fishermen and quails sometimes came there to set up their nests, while guards and soldiers set up their barracks there. Damietta residents would also come by boat for recreation, hunting, and sports. Ras el-Barr is a modern name. In the Middle Ages, Arabs called this area "Giza Damietta," meaning "the area" or "the border." When al-Maqrizi visited it in the fifteenth century, he called it "Marj al-Bahrain" in his poem. Ras el-Barr witnessed horrific events during the Crusades. In 1169, while Saladin was still serving as vizier to the Fatimid Caliph al-Adid, Crusader fleets arrived on the coast of Damietta in approximately 1,000 ships carrying tens of thousands of cavalry and infantry. They landed at Ras el-Barr and laid siege to the city of Damietta for fifty-three days.

Salah El Deen fought them until he expelled them from Damietta after he sank most of the ships they were traveling on in the Mediterranean. In June 1218, a huge fleet arrived in front of Ras El Bar carrying about seventy thousand fighters led by Jean de Brienne. Then they landed at Damietta Island and camped in front of the city for 6 months and 22 days. They entered it in November 1219. Then the well-known story ends with the invaders leaving Damietta after they spent three years and four months in it and on its shores.

Thirty years later, in June 1249, a large fleet carrying Louis IX and his army stopped at Ras El Bar. They then landed at Ras El Bar and marched to Damietta, crossed the bridge, and seized it without a fight. The story ends with their defeat at the Battle of Faraskur, the capture of Louis IX, and the withdrawal of the campaign from the coasts of Ras El Bar and Damietta in May 1250 AD.

Thirty years later, in June 1249, a large fleet carrying Louis IX and his army stopped at Ras El Bar. They then landed at Ras El Bar and marched to Damietta, crossed the bridge, and seized it without a fight. The story ends with their defeat at the Battle of Fariskur, the capture of Louis IX, and the withdrawal of the campaign from the coasts of Ras El Bar and Damietta in May 1250 AD.

Thirty years later, in June 1249, a large fleet carrying Louis IX and his army stopped at Ras El Bar. They then landed at Ras El Bar and marched to Damietta, crossed the bridge, and seized it without a fight. The story ends with their defeat at the Battle of Faraskur, the capture of Louis IX, and the withdrawal of the campaign from the coasts of Ras El Bar and Damietta in May 1250 AD.

The  history of the summer resort begins with the beginning of the nineteenth century, and the horrors of the invasions and wars that swept through that beautiful region were forgotten. With them came tranquility and recreation, and the waves of the sea washed away the traces of battles and blood. Fishermen and quail came with their boats and nets and began to frequent those beaches.

When the Sufi sheikhs and their followers in Damietta finished celebrating the birth of Abu al-Maati on the night of the middle of Sha’ban, the birth of Sheikh Ali al-Sayyad on the western bank of the Nile, and the birth of Sheikh Sadid in Sinaniya, their crowds would march north along the Nile to the well-known place “al-Jarbi.”

In the nineteenth century, some notables from Damietta had settled in Ras El Bar in 1823 for hunting and sports. They were so pleased with its atmosphere and scenery that they built huts of straw and mats for themselves. They soon adopted this place as a summer resort, and others followed suit. The summer resort developed year after year, graduating from a few scattered huts to organized rows between the Nile and the sea.

In 1883, the German scientist Koch, who was appointed by the Egyptian government following the spread of cholera in Egypt, visited Ras El Bar and wrote about it in a report: “Ras El Bar resort may one day become the king of summer resorts and the most famous of them.” It is distinguished by its beautiful location, its pure, dry air, its golden beaches, its distance from noise, and its less humid atmosphere than the atmosphere of other Egyptian beaches, and its air contains a high amount of iodine.

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Ras El Bar resort witnessed various projects of varying importance aimed at developing and repairing the resort. In 1912, the doors and windows of the huts were made of wood, after they had been made of huts and opened and closed by pulling a rope.

From 1919 to 1929, the resort administration undertook repairs to the agricultural road leading to Ras El Bar from the east. The only road leading to Ras El Bar was the Nile and the boats. In 1930, the Damietta Bridge was opened, connecting the two banks of the Nile and facilitating access to the resort by car.

In 1938, the Ports and Lighthouses Authority built a 350-meter-long reinforced concrete quay, submerged in seawater and 75 meters above the sand on land, to protect the northern coast from continuous erosion year after year, known as the “lessan area.”

In 1944, a new project was put in place to plan Ras El Bar as a permanent city. The supporters of this idea felt that the simple, natural, and quiet summer resort was no longer compatible with the requirements of the modern age or with the rapid urban development. They also felt that the natural life that the ancient vacationers had lived was no longer suitable for fifty thousand summer resort-goers of all classes and temperaments.

The number of visitors for the summer resort increased year after year after the new developments that took place there, and the number of summer visitors in the summer of 1949 reached forty-five thousand.

In 1950, new, wide roads were paved in the resort, and special vehicles were built to facilitate transportation, known as “Tut-Tut”. The sewage project was implemented, the western road was paved, and a new drinking water network was extended to the southern area of ​​the resort. This helped expand the area of ​​the resort.

Hence, it was necessary to continue developing this distinguished summer resort and bring it to a prestigious tourist level worthy of its unique location. This is what happened in the Mubarak Project for Development and Urban Coordination, which contributed to the reformulation and coordination of Ras El Bar Island.

May God bless Ras el-Barr with a unique location at the confluence of the Nile River with the Mediterranean Sea in a rare view. It is an island in the shape of a triangle whose head is the tongue area, its eastern side is the Nile River and its western side is the Mediterranean Sea, and its base is the navigation channel of Damietta Port. Ras el-Barr's climate is characterized by moderate weather and dryness, and its air contains a percentage of Iodine, in addition to the abundance of gardens and trees that give it splendor and beauty.

• Cairo _ Ismailia _ Port Said _ Damietta _ Ras el-Barr.

• Cairo _ Banha _ Mit Ghamr _ Mansoura _ Sherbin _ Ras el-Barr.

• Alexandria _ International Coastal Road _ Ras el-Barr.