To book an excursion or hotel email steven@marsaalam.com or telephone Steven on +20 1284332337.
This guide was recommended (January 2015) on the
blog.From your hotel the small historic town of El Quseir (population approx 40,000 ) makes for a great half or full day excursion. El Quseir is the Red Sea's oldest port and dates back to Pharaonic times.
The fishing harbour's narrow side streets lead up to an area of tourist bazars flanking the main street, Sharia Gomhuriya, which ascends to an unmissable and impressive Ottoman citadel.
Steven's limousine Service offers to pick you up from your hotel just after lunch and take you back after sunset. The two way journey (as of summer 2019 ) from most hotels (excluding only the few which lie a long way south of Marsa Alam) is just 55 euro for a trip, meaning that for three passengers it would be less than 19 euros for each person..
You can easily save that money and more on the shopping prices in town which are much cheaper than inside the hotels. For more information email steven@marsaalam.com.
THE CASTLE
The fort of El Quseir lies on high ground in what is now the centre of town. Coming from Marsa Alam jump out of your taxi near the petrol station and then it's a five minute walk up the hill. Coming the other way from Safaga you can't miss it as you follow the one way main road in to town.
French cannon on the ramparts .Copyright - MarsaAlam.com
Your attention is immediately arrested by the muzzels of two potruding cannon. Brought by the French to protect the town and harbour, they now overlook visitors as they shop in the bazaars beneath. Only one of them is actually of French manufacture, the other is probably of Dutch origin.
The castle was originally built by Sultan Selim I in 1517 (those guide books which state 1571 forget that Selim I was long dead by then ) to protect what was Egypt's most important port on the Red Sea. El Qusier means "the short" in Arabic and probably the town earned this name because it was the port allowing inland pilgrims to make the shortest journey possible from the Nile valley to Mecca.
El Quseir's strategic importance derived from it being located close to an ancient route from the Red Sea to the Luxor area via the Wadi el Hammamat - a twisting valley which cuts a snake like path through the mountains of Egypt's Eastern Desert.
Haj pilgrims would leave their camels and horses at the castle before embarking by ship for Mecca. The port also served as a vital entrepot for Egypt's trade with Arabia and Asia and was a major transhipment point for the spice trade on the route to Europe.
It was in the late sixteenth century, at the same time the castle was built, that the town centre of El Quseir moved from its' original site, which was near the modern Movenpick hotel, to its' current location around the fort and harbour.
In 1799 the French, who had sent a military expedition to Egypt under the command of General Napoleon, seized the fort, built a tall viewing platform ( now rebuilt), widened the ramparts and added a number of cannon, some of which can still be seen. They also left a garrison of some one hundred soldiers.
In August of the same year the fort's enhanced defences withstood a three day assault by two British 32 gun frigates, HMS Daedalus and HMS Fox which fired an estimated 6,000 cannonballs at it. However, before retreating, these two battleships caused major breaches to the walls, especially in the area close to the main entrance.
The British twice attempted landings in order to destroy the drinking wells of the city but were forced to withdraw in the face of heavy cannon and musket fire and lost one cannon in the surf which may subsequently have been added to the fort's own battery of guns.
In June 1801 the fort was finally abandoned by the French army when an army of some 6000 British and Indian soldiers, under General Baird, landed at El Quseir. This force then crossed the Eastern Desert in a ten day march at the height of summer to capture Qena on the Nile. A feat which helped to hasten the final surrender of French forces in September.
In 1816 the fort was used as a base for Muhammad Ali Pasha's wars against Arabia but after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869, its' strategic significance was considerably diminished. However, it remained in use as a base for the Egyptian coast guard until 1975.
At the main gate you can buy a 30LE ticket ( price as of 2018 - equivalent to about 1.70 euros ) which gains you access to the entire fort ( open daily from 0900 to 1700 ) which includes several small exhibits of the area's history, shipbuilding, phosphate mining and Bedouin life and traditions. You can also climb the stairs of the central watchtower which gives you magnificent views over the town and harbour.
But there is a lot more to El Quseir than the castle.
MARKETS AND SHOPS
The town offers a large number of traditional tourist friendly bazaars along Sharia Al Gomhuriya which lies below the castle selling the usual array of papyrus, alabaster statues, t shirts and leather goods etc. However there as also some fascinating local markets, especially on a Friday, to which the Ababda and Ma'aza Bedouin and other local farmers bring their produce.
El Quseir market and various street scenes
May 2010 - 9.15 mins - 17,000+ views
RELIGIOUS DIVERSITY
El Qusier is a place where Muslims and Christians work and live alongside each other and while there are 33 mosques including the Faran Mosque with its' minaret dating back to 1704. The town is also home to a thousand Coptic Christians and it has the only church for over 100 km in any direction.
The Coptic Church of St. Mary (previously named St Barbara's - after the patron saint of miners) stands close to the sea, less than a ten minute walk north from the town centre. It was completely rebuilt in 2008 but houses some beautiful paintings on its' walls. The original building, which fell into disrepair, had been established by the Italian Red Sea Phosphate mining company in 1920 as a Catholic church.
The town also has shrines to a number of eminent Muslims who died while undertaking the haj. Perhaps best known is the nineteenth century shrine of Abdel Ghaffaar Al Yemeni, which can be found opposite the castle on Sharia Al Gomhuriya in a niche in a wall.
RELAXING BY THE CORNICHE AND BEACH.
Those who wish to chill out or relax after a hard day's sightseeing, should make for the fishing harbour which has two small but quiet beaches nearby and a great seafood restaurant, Al Fanoos, opposite the car park deservedly popular with Egyptians. Here you can enjoy a great meal at a table right on the beach.
Also surrounding the harbour (please see map) are the Faran and Sidi Abd El Rahim mosques and behind the old police station (originally either an Ottoman council chamber or custom house), the old quarantine hospital built during the reign of Sultan Selim II ( 1566 - 1574 ) and the old granary ( which in the nineteenth century stored wheat for shipment to the Arabian peninsular. ) Flowing the other way into the port from Arabia came coffee, pepper, incense and spices from as far away as the East Indies, some of which prior to 1868 and the completion of the Suez canal was probably then exported through the Mediterranean port of Alexandria to Europe.
El Quseir's corniche, known as Sharia Port Said, which runs both north and south west from the harbour is flanked by numerous narrow alleyways lined by old houses with wooden balconies and brightly painted doors. Amid this arthitectual mix you can also find a number of small cafes and restaurants which line the beach on the south western side of the harbour.
Surprisingly you won't normally find many tourists in this part of El Quseir but it's a rewarding area to stroll around, watch the fishermen and forget the worries of the world.
ANCIENT EL QUSEIR - THE ROMAN RUINS.
Around 8km north of the city centre lie the remains of an ancient port. Some historians claim that during the Roman period this was the port of Myos Hormos ('Mussel Harbour') and others that it was Leukos Limen ('White Harbour'). Nowadays many people refer to it by its' Arabic title El Quseir El Qadima.
During the first century AD a fleet of around 120 ships (according to the Greek geographer Strabo) exported pottery, slaves (mostly from Europe) including "singing boys", wine and precious minerals to India and East Africa and returned with imports of stone, silk and spices for the Roman empire.
The imports would have then been transported by a six day camel journey to Koptos (now called Qift) and then floated up the Nile river to Alexandria and subsequently onward by ship to Europe.
Unfortunately today the ancient harbour has long silted up and all that remains of the former port are a few of the ancient foundations although a lot of imported ancient artifacts of Indian and Chinese origin have been found in the area and offshore there are the sparse remains of a Roman shipwreck lying some 65 metres deep in the water.
Myos Hormos was also the same place from where in 1493 BC Queen Hatshepsut ( 1508 - 1458 BC ) sent an expedition of five ships and some 200 sailors to the land of Punt (Eritrea/Somalia area) 1600 km (or 1000 miles ) away. They returned, up to a year later, with many precious goods including ivory, ebony and frankincense. The story of the voyage is depicted on the walls of her temple at Luxor.
It may also have been the port from where Phoenecian sailors set sail in 600 BC and returned via the Mediterranean (according to the ancient historian Herodotus) completing what may have been the first circumnavigation of Africa.
The opening of a rail route linking Suez with Alexandria in 1858 and subsequently the opening of the Suez canal in 1869 finished El Quseir's position as a transhipment point on the European-Asian trade routes. Around 90 per cent of its' population left and by 1900 El Quseir had become a ghost town with less than a thousand inhabitants.
However the world demand for agricultural fertilizers provided renewed demand for labour when in 1916 the Italian Red Sea Phosphate Company started mining operations in the area. The company's derelict warehouses can still be seen by the coast - about a ten minute walk north from the harbour area.
Workers were drawn from all over Egypt but conditions were hard and as newer more cost efficient mines opened and environmental concerns about the damage of phosphate ore dust to the coral reefs and human health mounted, many of the El Quseir mines closed.
In the 1990s El Quseir found a new economic lifeline - as it started to attract divers and other tourists wishing to avoid the crowds of Sharm El Sheikh and looking for virgin unspoiled areas. Fortunately the town itself has remained free of the large scale resorts and construction that might have otherwise destroyed its' quiet charm.
DID YOU KNOW ?
DISASTERS THAT ALMOST FINISHED EL QUSEIR
1. The Black Death. Archaeologists researching the area around Quseir El Qadima can find little evidence of any acitivity in the area during the Fifteenth century. The plague was probably brought by rat infested ships in late 1348 or early 1349. Originally historians thought the plague entered Egypt on grain ships via Alexandira, but it could equally have arrived on ships from Asia docking at El Quseir and then via the caravan routes to the Nile Valley. Historians claim that perhaps 40 per cent of Egypt's population died in the next few years - an even higher percentage than in most of Europe.
2. The Suez canal in 1869. Before 1858, and the completion of the rail route between Suez and Alexandria, El Quseir was a crucial link and transhipment point on the trade routes linking Europe with Asia via the Red Sea and prior to the completion of the canal in 1869 the only alternative had been the long-route around Africa's Cape of Good Hope. But after 1869 the town went into decline and its' population fell by 90 per cent.
3. The Great Egyptian famine of 1784 and a more localized famine in 1863 saw sharp falls in the population as food became scarce and the death rate surged and desperate people migrated back to rural areas.
BUDGET ACCOMMODATION IN TOWN
There's a choice of several places including -
The El Quseir Hotel on the corniche (Sharia Port Said) just north of the fishing harbour (see map). It's a restored former merchant's house with a lovely wooden staircase and has six spacious, if basic, rooms with clean shared bathrooms. Try to get a room with a sea view. You might be surprised to learn that despite its affordability, as of October 2019, it has the highest rating of all 10 hotels in the El Quseir area on Booking.com based on some 70 reviews scoring an impressive 8.6 out of 10 points and now boasting 24 hour front desk, room service and free wifi throughout the building.
A little further out (about 3 km from the town centre) in the northern suburbs of the town is Egyptian House providing fairly spacious rooms with kitchen, fridge, satellite TV and a terrace. For availability, prices and to book a room please check the hotel's page on Booking.com.
Or The Sea Princess located next to the petrol station on the southern entrance to the town centre (see map) which is usually even cheaper, especially for the small rooms without bathrooms on the first floor. However you may prefer one of the three small ensuite rooms on the second floor - one of which overlooks both the petrol station and the old town.
LUXURY ACCOMMODATION OUT OF TOWN
There are a number of four and five star hotels located close to El Quseir, including the Movenpick just 8km north of the town centre and the much cheaper and in our opinion better value five star Dreams Beach Resort located 27km ( a twenty minute drive ) south of the town.
If you want information on an El Quseir excursion please email steven@marsaalam.com.
Dutch cannon may predate French occupation.
As this video shows there is a lot more to El Quseir than the castle and shopping. It's a great place to relax and observe the Egyptian way a life.
Jan 2017 - 6.29 mins - 36+ likes - 5,300+ views
El Quseir is perfect for getting a feel for the 'real Egypt.'
Apr 2010 - 2.48 mins - 46+ likes - 18,600+ views
Exploring little known sites in El Quseir - inc St. Mary's, the Faran mosque and the old phosphate factory.
Dec 2017 - 3.44 mins - 11+ likes - 650+ views
First three cannon photos Creative Commons C. A Hickson, the Last photo from Wikimedia Commons.
Some great beaches lie close to the town, though some of the best are on the property of nearby hotels.
Source. J Hutsch 2008 Creative Commons for more details see Wikimedia Commons.
Inside El Quseir fort with the watchtower left hand side.
Creative Commons - Source Wikimedia Commons.
A fascinating mix of architecture in the old town.
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MAP 1 - SATELLITE MAP OF EL QUSEIR TOWN AREA AND THROUGH ROUTES - 2013.
MAP 2 - SATELLITE MAP OF EL QUSEIR OLD TOWN AND HARBOUR
( can take a minute or so to download )
MORE PHOTOS
View from the fort's high viewing tower looking towards the sea.
The high tower to the left and French quarters built up against the ramparts right.
You can see the wagons which until recently miners had to push loaded with phosphate.
The castle is paradise for cannon spotters.
The fort's cannon overlook a row of tourist bazaars.
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