[4][5][6] In 1865 an observatory, principally for meteorological work, was founded at Abbassia, by the Khedive Isma'il Pasha and maintained continuously there for nearly forty years.

The building lay on the boundary between the cultivated Nile Delta and the desert, but then with urban encroachment, it was decided in 1904 to move the meteorological work to Helwan.

During this period, red, green and purple rocks or gravel became distributed all along the valley and Delta regions of the Nile.

[10] In the Second World War, during which Egypt was the scene of heavy fighting, the United Kingdom located its Royal Armoured Corps School in Abbassia.

[12] The Cathedral of Saint Mark in Abbassia was the site of the 2012 funeral for Coptic Pope Shenouda III of Alexandria, attracting more than two million mourners from around the world.