THE OLD TOWN

Entry 10 SDG, to pay at the ghaffir, in the house on the left after the old door at the end of the bridge. The old town, or just the island of Suakin. A round of round land of a few thousand square metres, in the middle of an cove whose channel has been expanded over the centuries to accommodate high-tonnage vessels. The whole creek is above all a coral formation. It is, of course, that the dried structure of the animal has been used as construction material for buildings. Unfortunately, the wind, the sprays and the rainy rain will not have been enough to preserve them from collapse.

According to the legend, Suakin has been, since the times of King Solomon, the place of banishing the jinn, the evil demons that many Sudanese still fear today. A sad reputation that fitted well with its slave status for several centuries. What injustice, however, for this island, which was still an important point of passage on the road of India, before the discovery of the Cape of Good hope by the Europeans and the Ottoman stranglehold on the coastal region in the th century. Merchants from Europe and Asia had established themselves. Its location also made it the great African port on the road to Mecca. But at the end of the th century, when the English invest in the region, it's no more than a village on the margins of the rest of the world.

If you have the opportunity before you come, we advise you to see photos of the island dating from the beginning of the last century. The contrast then will be more striking. The city has been abandoned, it seems to have been bombed, mutilated. Many people were forced to win Port Sudan. Others remained and settled on the continent. Some buildings, however, retain a form that distinguishes them from the ruins surrounding it.

The two small mosques first, Shafai and Hanafi. It is difficult to date with certainty, but it is possible that they are those described by the Portuguese, more than 400 years ago. Hanafi Mosque (the most easterly) is the object of a serious restoration. And there's work! Two-storey Ottoman houses, with their typical Red Sea moucharabieh, have disappeared. The former residence of the governor of the Sublime Gate was to be the home of Khorshid Effendi, in the north-east of the island, near the Bank of Egypt building, in "best" state than the others. Kitchener had taken the portrait with his officers in this house with an open "checker" (where hearings were held), all decorated stucco. In the west of the Shafai mosque, the buildings, which are likely to be portuaire (warehouses?), are also interesting. Besides, a house (an official palace?) has partially preserved its floor and its double staircase, which still falls in ruins and gives… on a vacuum. A superb decoration with stucco features is still visible inside.

On the mainland, don't miss a small tower along the creek. In the "new" city, the Taj as-Sir mosque (closest to the old door of the city) deserves to be stopped.