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Mostly Damietta is an industrial center known for its furniture, leathers, textile and sweets industries in addition to dairy products and rice mills and for its agricultural heritage. It is also a fishing industry town, with one of the largest fleets on the Mediterranean which accounts for fully half of the fishing boats of Egypt. Finally, it is well known for the port.
Outside the town is Lake el Manzalla which is a huge lake that has a vast
number of birds during the winter season. In the old town of Damietta you will find the Abu El-Maati Mosque that is surrounded by an enormous cemetery. The mosque was built during the Fatimid period when the town was captured by the Muslims. The mosque has been closed down and is falling into ruin. |
The Nile river divides Damietta, which is the Capital of the Egyptian
Governorate by the same name. The city has a long history, but a lot
of information have been lost, as is often in the Nile
Delta cities due to the river's destructive forces. The Hebrews knew
the city as Kaftoud. In ancient Egypt, it was Tamit, or Tim Any,
while in the Roman era and Coptic eras, it was Tamyatish and Tameat,
respectively.
Today, Damietta is becoming more and more of a retreat for the people of
Cairo who wish to escape the tourist activity of Alexandria and other
North coast cities.
There are
flamingos,
spoonbills, herons, pelicans and storks that stop here on their migration.
On the other side of the branch of the Nile are three beach resorts, Ras
el-Bar, Baltim and Gamassa. These resorts are most easily reached by way
of Damietta.
