Heliopolis (Egyptian Arabic: مصر الجديدة, Maṣr el-Gedīda, [ˈmɑsˤɾ el ɡɪˈdiːdæ, -eɡ-], lit.

[2] Édouard Louis Joseph, 1st Baron Empain visited Egypt in January 1904 to rescue one of the projects of his company S.A. des Chemins de Fer de la Basse-Egypte; the construction of a railway line linking Mansourah (on the Nile river) to Matariya (on the far side of Lake Manzala from Port Said).

It was designed as a "city of luxury and leisure", with broad avenues and equipped with all conveniences and infrastructure: water, drains, electricity, hotel facilities, such as the Heliopolis Palace Hotel and Heliopolis House, and recreational amenities including a golf course, racetrack and park.

In addition, there was housing for rent, offered in a range of innovative designs targeting specific social classes with detached and terraced villas, apartment buildings, tenement blocks with balcony access and workers' bungalows.

[5] The neighborhood had some of the wealthiest Egyptian residences; on the left facing Avenue Baron was the Arabesque palace of Boghos and Marie Nubar Pasha, now a military headquarters, and diagonally opposite stands the former residence of Sultan Hussein Kamel, who reigned over Egypt between 1914 and 1917, and today, it is a presidential guest house.

[5] The Heliopolis War Cemetery on Nabil el Wakkad street contains the Port Tewfik Memorial, a memorial to over 4000 soldiers of the British Indian Army who fell in the First World War, which was originally in Port Tewfik in Suez, but was relocated to Heliopolis after its destruction in the 1970s.

Unlike other modern Cairene suburbs around the start of the 20th century, Heliopolis had a significantly larger percentage of Egyptian citizen residents.

Heliopolis today is administratively divided into the districts of Masr El-Gedida and El-Nozha in the Eastern Area of Cairo.

[11] Heliopolis contains recreational places, as it was initially established to offer its residents and visitors rest and relaxation.

[15] Heliopolis gained a special political and military importance in Egypt and the Middle East in recent decades.

In 1981, the site of Heliopolis Palace Hotel became the Egyptian Republican Palace (Arabic: قصر رئاسة الجمهورية) and the president's office, It is also where the headquarters of the Nation's Future Party, The current major political party of Egypt is located In contrast with its initial establishment as a quiet suburb, Heliopolis now is considered a main part of Cairo.