Helwan (Arabic: ‫ حلوان‬Ḥelwān, IPA: [ħelˈwæːn], Coptic: ϩⲁⲗⲟⲩⲁⲛ, romanized: Halouan[1])

is a city in Egypt and part of Greater Cairo, on the bank of the Nile, opposite the
ruins of Memphis. Originally a southern suburb of Cairo, it served as the capital
of the now defunct Helwan Governorate from April 2008 to April 2011, after which it
was re-incorporated into the Cairo Governorate. The kism of Helwan had a population
of 643,327 in the 2006 census.[2]

Contents
1 History
2 Ecclesiastical history
2.1 Titular see
3 Administrative divisions
4 Economy
5 Climate
6 Notability
7 See also
8 References
9 External links
History
The Helwan and Isnian cultures of the late Epipalaeolithic, and their Ouchata
retouch methods for creating microlithic tools may have contributed to the
development of the Harifian cultural assemblage of the Sinai, which may have
introduced Proto-Semitic languages into the Middle East. Around 3000 to 2600 BC,
there was a cemetery near Helwan serving the city of Memphis.

The city of Helwan was founded in 689 CE as Fustat's temporary replacement as the
capital of Umayyad Egypt by its governor Abd al-Aziz ibn Marwan, who died in the
new city.[3]

The Khedivial Astronomical Observatory was built here 1903-1904, and was used to
observe Halley's comet. Egypt's oldest and largest private psychiatric clinic, the
Behman Hospital, was constructed here in 1939.

During the early part of the 20th century, the city was the site of RAF Helwan, a
major British airfield, which was later used by the Egyptian Air Force.

In 1959 Helwan was chosen to serve as a site of a major industrial city, as part of
President Gamal Abdel Nasser's attempts to industrialize Egypt. Throughout the
1960s, it developed into a massive steelworks zone, with numerous automobile
factories being built. The site continues to use electricity from the Aswan Dam and
iron ore from Egypt's western deserts. Helwan was gradually transformed into a mass
suburb of Cairo for the working class.[4]

In April 2008, the Helwan Governorate was split from the Cairo Governorate. It
encompassed most of the suburbs, new compounds and villages located in the southern
part of Cairo. The city of Helwan became the capital of the new governorate.
Following the dissolution of the Helwan Governorate in April 2011, the city of
Helwan was reincorporated into the Cairo Governorate.

Helwan points (Abu Salem points sub-type)

Map of the Levantine sites with Helwan points

Ecclesiastical history
Alphocranon was important enough in the Late Roman province of Arcadia Aegypti to
be a suffragan of its Metropolitan Archbishop of Oxyrhynchus.

Its bishop, Harpocration, participated in the First Council of Nicaea in 325. The
bishopric is mentioned in two Notitiae Episcopatuum.[5][6]

Titular see
No longer a residential diocese, Alphocranon is today listed by the Catholic Church
as a Latin Catholic titular bishopric,[7] nominally restoring the diocese since
1933, but no incumbent is recorded.

Administrative divisions
The now defunct Helwan Governorate encompassed the following cities or districts:
Maadi, Helwan, 15th of May, El Shorouk, New Cairo, Madinaty.

The city of Helwan itself includes districts such as Wadi Hof, Hadayek Helwan, and
Maasara.

Economy

President Gamal Abdel Nasser inaugurating the Al Nasr automobile factory in Helwan,
1963
Local industry includes iron, steel, textiles and cement. The area has hot sulphur
springs, an astronomical observatory, the Helwan University and a burial chamber
(discovered in 1946). It is the terminus of Cairo's light rail Metro Line 1. Also
trams in Helwan serve the people.

Climate
Köppen-Geiger climate classification system classifies its climate as hot desert
(BWh). Owing to its proximity to Cairo, its average monthly temperatures are quite
similar, but it has a quite different distribution of humidity and its diurnal
average temperature variation is slightly larger.