Pause Cairo: Play Suez (Part 2 - Le Centre Du Monde)

After coming back home from Suez, I was still intrigued by the abandoned Greek church and consulate. They seemed to have more prestigious days in the past, with wonderful architecture and masonry still on show, albeit the condition they are in now. After staring at the pictures I had taken for a while, I decided maybe a quick google search or a look at the map on google earth would give me information about their history. I started off with google earth, and mapped my way to where the church stood in the city of Suez. All I found there was a kind contribution of a photo labelled as 'Old Church' but not much else. So I went on google search and typed out several terms involving mainly the words 'Suez' 'Greek' 'Church' and 'Consulate'. As my investigative work started to fizzle out, I finally came across a personal website which provided some information.

On this website, Professor Philip M. Papaelias describes the Greek community he grew up in, back in the 50s and 60s. He also gives very interesting information on how the three cities that sat on the banks of the Suez Canal (Port Said, Ismalia, and Suez) all had large Greek communities, with schools, churches, cinemas, clubs, and other forms of entertainment catering to the needs of the communities.

The mysterious church was called Saint Catherine Church

I did not find what I was searching for though; the history of the buildings I saw. He did mention that there were three churches in Suez, so I guessed that was a lead I should go on. I decided to email Professor Philip M. Papaelias through the contact information he left on the website. I introduced myself and described what I was trying to find out. I was a little disappointed to receive an automatic notification that he was away, but it took no more than a few hours later to find a second email, this time directly from him. I was elated to discover that he was interested in discussing the topic of the Greek community in Suez. After seeing the pictures from my previous post, he provided me with the valuable information. This is an excerpt from an email sent by Prof. Philip M. Papaelias:

The abandoned Greek Consulate building on the photo was in fact the balcony of the classroom where I was studying for my final year of education in 1965.

The building was my school, and became consulate after it was closed down in 1967. My father was serving as teacher in both Greek schools, that one and the one in Port Tawfik. The consulate was three blocks further down, close to the Baladyiah square. On the side of this square there was the Greek Club. All these Greek buildings where in Saad Zaghloul street, the well known politician who said the famous words "Mafish faida" widely repeated since then by the Egyptians (and not only).

The mysterious church next to the school is Saint Catherine. Bank Misr str. is named so probably because of the Bank adjacent to the school in Saad Zaghloul street.

Please remember that French are naming Suez as Le Centre Du Monde (Center of the Earth).

The abandoned Greek Consulate was originally a Greek school before 1967. The second floor (R) housed the classroom in which Prof. Philip M. Papaelias studied for his last year of education (1965). 

I would like to thank Professor Philip M. Papaelias for the valuable information he provided. A lot more information can be found on his article 'The Greek Community Of Suez' as well as more articles, publications, books and contributions by the professor on his personal website centred around High Energy Astrophysics and Cosmology.