Cities are rarely named by one name. Some are identified by their location on the map, while others are known by the worlds they form.
Port Said, for example, was never just Port Said. I have Sold out Many names over time, each one a reflection of its multi-layered identity: “Marseille of the Red Sea,” “Venice of the Desert,” and “the bridge between East and West.”
English novelist Rudyard Kipling once It was seized In one enduring line, he describes how “If you want to meet a friend, there are three great doors in the world. If you stand long enough, you’ll meet anyone you want. And the head of the Suez Canal is one of them.”
However, beyond its many names and its fame as the center of the Suez Canal, and a symbol of global trade and communication, Port Said holds something much more intimate. For countless Egyptians, it is a place of memory and belonging; A city they have watched grow, transform, and transform over the years, and yet it is a city whose heartbeat still lingers in their songs, their stories, and their hearts.
To truly see Port Said means looking beyond the ships and the crowded canal, and into the lives of the people who call it home. This was the vision behindTwo grandmothers, one table“, a collaborative trip that he co-organized Our storiesan organization dedicated to participatory cultural storytelling, Tita LolaEgyptian cuisine, and Stabinya cultural center and tourist guide that breathes new life into the heritage of Port Said.
The trip celebrated the city not just by telling its history, but by revealing a way to see it anew, by teaching others how to fall in love with a place in its entirety.
To find beauty in its abandoned buildings, hear the stories of its ancient statues, embrace its multicultural sounds, and feel the promise of what it might become: a renewed gateway and tourist destination for travelers across Egypt and beyond.
“When people think of heritage, they often imagine ancient pyramids or temples. Few would consider a 165-year-old building in Port Said to be heritage,” says Mohamed Hassan, also known as Misho, one of StaBene’s founders, speaking to Egyptian Streets.
“But this ancient building is basically the city’s equivalent of the pyramids. The heritage must be understood in the context of the city’s history.”
Falling in love with Port Said
Falling in love with Port Said happens slowly. It begins with its ancient buildings, balconies, and structures that have remained witness to generations. More than brick and stone, they are receptacles of memory, shaping not only the appearance of the city but also its soul; They help tell the story of a place and define the spirit that lives there.
Since 2014, Hassan has dedicated himself to a unique mission: helping Egyptians and visitors fall in love with Port Said. His goal is to transform its story from one viewed only through economic or political lenses to one shaped by a love of its food, its music, its architecture, and, above all, its enduring beauty.
This trip came after years spent organizing visits for university students from Cairo and Alexandria, using art as a way to draw attention to Port Said’s neglected heritage.
“Sometimes we would organize performances on historic streets or in front of abandoned buildings so that people would notice places they would normally pass by without a second thought,” he recalls.
Over time, his projects expanded to include cinema and wider cultural activities. A notable example of this is the Rio Cinema in Port Said, a 1940s-era cinema that has been closed for over fifteen years.
“We cleaned and restored it for cultural events in partnership with Zawya Cinema,” he says. “Every month, we hosted screenings that attracted large audiences, showing films from all over the world and creating spaces for conversations with filmmakers. The place became a real cultural center of the city.”
Standing in the heart of Ferial Park, named after Princess Ferial, the eldest daughter of King Farouk, and which was inaugurated in 1869 on the opening day of the Suez Canal, Hassan spoke of Port Said’s evolving identity.
He looked at the city’s history not through a single lens, but through a broader, more nuanced perspective.
He pointed out, “History should not be told from only one perspective. Two people can live the same event and describe it differently.”
He talked about how Port Said’s cosmopolitan spirit has influenced his family, his personality, and his interactions with foreigners over the years, even down to the city’s unique multilingual melodies that color daily conversations.
“The older generations in Port Said grew up immersed in the presence of foreigners,” he explains.
“Many worked with them, lived nearby, hosted travelers, and spoke several languages. Even with only a basic formal education, people often spoke two, three, or even four languages. They were comfortable with cultural differences.”
In the 1950s, Port Said I flourished As a cultural melting pot, Egyptians lived alongside Greek, Italian, French, Armenian and other communities. The city was home to as many as fourteen cinemas, one of its landmarks being the Cinema House Simon Arzt A department store, celebrated as the oldest mall in Egypt and the second oldest in the world, where visitors can browse some of Europe’s finest luxuries.
However, much of this vitality is cultural Faded In the background during the 1970s, when President Sadat declared Port Said a free zone. The city’s identity gradually became linked to trade, as imported goods entered Egypt through its ports. People were traveling from all over Egypt in search of electronics, clothing, and products that were otherwise difficult to find.
While that era brought economic growth and prosperity, the city’s cultural life slowly retreated from the spotlight.
“Many of the city’s former cultural spaces have been reused to store commercial goods,” Hassan explains.
“Cinema theatres, for example, were converted into warehouses. Therefore, while economic activity grew, cultural life gradually diminished.”
More than just a mall
To encourage a broader understanding of Port Said beyond its identity as a center for trade and commerce, the Hassan StaBene Project, launched in 2022, works to preserve and revive the city’s tangible and intangible cultural heritage.
Through cultural events, heritage lodges, art exhibitions, and festivals, it reimagines abandoned and underutilized spaces as active cultural venues, bringing new life to the city’s historic fabric.
One of its first initiatives was StaBene, which converted a former furniture workshop and garage into a cultural space near one of Port Said’s historic villas.
“The idea was to create a place where artists, creatives and people with ideas could come together, collaborate and produce work,” he says. “We have hosted workshops, film screenings, exhibitions and various artistic productions.”
The space also became a filmmaking site, with numerous works that explored Port Said’s culture and traditions being produced, including documentaries about the city’s famous semsimiya musical heritage.
Recently, the team has continued to expand its work, launching… Heritage Inn Inside a restored historic building. The goal is to support cultural tourism and encourage visitors to spend more time in Port Said.
“The broader vision is to build a sustainable ecosystem where young people engage with their city’s identity from an early age, gain practical experience, and ultimately play an active role in preserving and promoting Port Said’s heritage,” he adds.
Hassan also places special emphasis on the potential of cultural tourism as a source of employment for Port Said’s youth. While cruise ships may dock only once every few months, he notes that passengers often continue directly to Cairo to visit the pyramids, leaving Port Said with minimal economic benefits.
“Why aren’t there more programs that encourage visitors to stay and experience the city itself?” he asks.
“Expanding cultural tourism would create jobs and give young people more reasons to stay connected to their city.”
The trip included visits to a number of historical buildings in Port Said, each of which reflects the city’s rich architectural heritage. Many of these buildings blend a range of influences, often described as neo-Gothic, Rococo and other eclectic styles, reflecting the city’s cosmopolitan past.
One of these buildings embodies this heritage from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a period when ornate wooden galleries were a distinctive feature of Port Said’s urban landscape. Among them is Villa Fernand, which is considered one of the city’s neglected architectural gems.
Located on Abdul Salam Arif Street, it was built by a foreign merchant who named it after his daughter, leaving behind a personal imprint in the architectural memory of the city.
Many of these buildings are now empty and abandoned, but Hassan believes they still hold great potential. He argues that they can be reimagined as cultural centres, community spaces, and educational places, as well as sites that preserve and celebrate religious heritage and broader cultural heritage.
He adds: “These are excellent places. The Maronite Church, for example, is abandoned and underutilized, although it could host many activities on the cultural and religious levels.”
Tunes and meals
The last part of the trip was a joyful celebration of tunes and meals. Guests gathered around a long family-style table nestled among the ancient facades of Port Said, under twinkling fairy lights next to StaBene’s cultural space.
Dinner included prepared dishes Tita Lola from Cairo and Tita Hala from Port Said, blending flavors and stories from across Egypt.
After spending a day exploring Port Said’s historical heritage, the focus turned to its flavours. The feast included duck soup, oven-baked potatoes, duck stuffed with onions, roasted quail, and rice soaked in duck broth, a culinary journey that brought the city’s traditions to life on every plate.
“Since supper clubs are at the heart of our social programmes, collaborating with Mary and Tita Lola to create one was an obvious choice for us,” Zeina Dowidar, one of the founders of Hakayatna, tells Egyptian Straits.
“We see the dinner table as the ideal space for communication, provided the right guidelines are in place.”
“At our meeting in Port Said, we followed the same principles we apply to every supper club: you can’t serve yourself, only serve others and you’ll get served in return; no phones on the table; and no one leaves until they’re completely full.”
After the meal, the evening ended on a sweeter note, not with the food, but with the sound. The guests were immersed in simsimiyya A cultural evening, experiencing the music of Port Said through an instrument rooted in Egypt’s ancient musical heritage.
Linked to the ancient Egyptian kanara (lyre-like instruments), the tradition traveled across Nubia before finding a permanent home in the Suez Canal area.
“Al-Sismamiya is the storyteller of the city,” says Hassan. Her songs carry stories of daily life, echoes of workers, sailors, fishermen, the port itself, and even stories of love and relationships. Today, this tradition continues through third and fourth generation musicians, who reinterpret it for younger audiences while keeping its spirit alive.
“Port Said should not rely solely on shopping tourism,” Hassan explains.
“It has the potential to become a center for cultural tourism, attracting visitors who come to immerse themselves in the city’s architecture, history, cuisine, music and distinctive character.”
