Rod El Farag ( ar, روض الفرج, ; also spelled Road El Farag, Road Elfarag or Road Alfarag) is an administrative region forming about one third of
Shobra
Shoubra ( ar, شبرا, ; Coptic: '; also written Shubra or Shobra) is one of the largest districts of Cairo, Egypt and it is administratively divided into three areas: Shubra, Road El Farag, and Elsahel.
Etymology
Although Shoubra has been ...
in
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo met ...
,
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Med ...
. Rod El Farag neighbours the
River Nile
The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered the longest rive ...
to the west,
Boulaq
Boulaq ( ar, بولاق, Būlāq from "guard, customs post"), is a district of Cairo, in Egypt. It neighbours Downtown Cairo, Azbakeya, and the River Nile.
History
The westward shift of the Nile, especially between 1050 and 1350, made land av ...
to the south,
Shobra (administrative region) Shubra (or Shobra, Shoubra) is an administrative region and forms a relatively small area that represents about one quarter of the district with the same name in Cairo, Egypt.
It neighbours the areas of Elsahel to the north, Sharabeya to the ea ...
to the east and
Elsahel to the north.
Rough Guides
Rough Guides Ltd is a British travel guide book and reference publisher, which has been owned by APA Publications since November 2017. In addition to publishing guidebooks, the company also provides a tailor-made trips service based on customer ...
notes that like neighbouring districts, Rod El Farag is generally overcrowded (170,000 residents per square kilometre).

Historically, Rod El Farag has been a residential area for centuries and was known in the early twentieth century for its
night club
A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music.
Nightclubs gener ...
s. For many years, Rod El Farag was home to Cairo's biggest fruit and vegetable market and the world-famous El-Nozah candy shop, started in 1940. This candy shop was famous for its home-made
ice cream
Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as ...
, though it relocated to an area on the outskirts of
Greater Cairo
The Greater Cairo Region (GCR; ar, القاهرة الكبرى, Al-Qāhira al-Kubrā) is th an economic region with no administrative body comprising the three governorates of Cairo, Giza and Qalyubia. Within it lies the largest metopolitan a ...
.
The Rod El Farag market used to be the largest in all of Egypt, drawing regional farmers and traders to settle in the area. The area where the market used to stand now hosts Rod El Farag Cultural Palace.
This district also contains good infrastructure, including the French school "Notre Dame des Apotres." Located on the
corniche
A corniche is a road on the side of a cliff or mountain, with the ground rising on one side and falling away on the other. The word has been absorbed into English from the French term ' or "road on a ledge", originally derived from the Itali ...
is the Arkadia Mall, which contains stores such as Mobcco and the Trianon confectionery and cafe.
Rod El Farag Bridge
The Rod El Farag Bridge over the
Nile
The Nile, , Bohairic , lg, Kiira , Nobiin language, Nobiin: Áman Dawū is a major north-flowing river in northeastern Africa. It flows into the Mediterranean Sea. The Nile is the longest river in Africa and has historically been considered ...
river, which is part of the
Tahya Misr Axis crossing the Egyptian capital of
Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo met ...
, built by the Egyptian company
Arab Contractors, is the world's widest
cable-stayed bridge
A cable-stayed bridge has one or more ''towers'' (or ''pylons''), from which cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, normally forming a fan-like pattern ...
[http://en.wataninet.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Image_9-3.jpeg ] built over the course of 4 years until it was completed in 2019, achieving the
Guinness World Record
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
with a width of 67.3 meters.
The 540 meters long bridge has 6 lanes in each direction, has suspension towers which are 92 meters high and 160 suspension cables to hold the bridge. Currently, it is becoming a major tourist attraction in Cairo, where visitors can cross the side pedestrian passageways which have panoramic views of the banks of the Nile and a glass floor see-through walkway where visitors can walk over the Nile.
References
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