The Lighthouse of Port Said was built in 1869 by Francois Coignet using reinforced concrete for the first time in the history, The height of the lighthouse is 56 meters. The lighthouse now is the only original building still standing in Port Said.

Port Said flourished particularly during the nineteenth and the first half of the twentieth century when it was inhabited by various nationalities and religions most of them were from Mediterranean countries, they coexisted in tolerance forming a real cosmopolitan community.

Since its establishment Port Said had a prominent place among Egyptian cities and we do not exaggerate if we said among global cities as well, for instance the city was the third in Egypt to witness a film screening after Cairo and Alexandria in the year 1898, also it enjoyed electricity in 1891, nine years after New York.

Rudyard Kipling described the vitality of Port Said’s community by saying “If you truly wish to find someone you have known and who travels, there are two points on the globe you have but to sit and wait, sooner or later your man will come there: the docks of London and Port Said”.

Port Said suffered from several wars and played an historic role during the Suez crisis in 1956 that failed to achieve any of its objectives.

Today’s Port Said is considered one of the Egyptian business centers, as it was declared a duty-free port in January 1976, attracting people from all over Egypt.