The Lost Temple

The building shown in the picture is Al-Huda Al-Mohamady Mosque.

A Jewish temple named Neve Shalom once stood on this site. The name means Oasis of Peace, and it was also called the Great Synagogue.

The temple was built in 1890. At the time of its construction, it was Cairo’s largest and most magnificent temple, and it remained Cairo’s principal temple until Shaar Hashamaim Temple was built on Adly Street in 1905.

After Jews left Egypt during the days of Nasser, the temples suffered severe neglect and many of them were demolished. In the 1960s, the temple was seized and converted into the headquarters of the Arab Socialist Union, the party Nasser founded as a unified organization to lead political life, equivalent to the National Democratic Party during Mubarak’s era. Then, in the 1980s, Mubarak abolished the party, so the temple was demolished and this mosque was built in its place.

Location: Tour Sinai Square, Al-Zahir.

Pictures 1 and 2: Two pictures of the mosque from different angles.

Picture 3: The temple’s interior in the past.

Picture 4: A wedding held in the temple in 1935.

Picture 5: The location of the temple on a map of Cairo from 1920.