The village, which was built by the late Egyptian engineer Hassan Fathi in the fifth decade of the last century, has become a center for attracting professors and students of architecture in universities, institutes and research institutions in many countries, as the village is one of the most important landmarks bearing the architectural vision of the engineer Hassan Fathi, who gained international fame in The field of architecture related to the surrounding environment, which some call "the architecture of the poor".

The heritage village of Hassan Fathi, located on the western mainland of the historic city of Luxor in Upper Egypt, has turned into a tourist attraction that attracts many lovers of arts and heritage architecture in Egypt and the world.

The village has gained heritage and tourist importance due to its distinguished (German) architectural character.

Saving village landmarks

The village gained heritage and tourism importance after it was subjected this year to a project sponsored by the National Organization for Urban Coordination in Egypt, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) office in Cairo, and a team of Egyptian architects.

During its first phase - which lasted several months - the monuments threatened with collapse in the village were rescued, and the architectural elements were strengthened and restored with 3 important landmarks: the khan, the mosque, and the theater, which are landmarks that represent major destinations for visitors to the village, including architecture experts, students of engineering faculties and fine arts, and tourists, according to To the statements of the President of the Egyptian Association for Tourism and Archaeological Development, Ayman Abu Zeid.

According to the Egyptian Minister of Culture, Dr. Enas Abdel Dayem, "the project to revive and restore the buildings of a distinguished architectural character in the village is a new achievement for the Egyptian culture, and a pioneering experience to preserve an important cultural and architectural heritage."

The village houses included pigeon towers, cellars, and mashrabiyas in which arabesques were used (communication sites)

Architectural and human heritage

As for the artist, Dr. Youssef Mahmoud, the former dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts at Luxor University, he sees - in his statements to the German - that the heritage monuments in the village - which is known as "Al-Qurna Model Village" or "Hassan Fathi Village", refer to the engineer Hassan Fathi who built the village with the aim of transferring The inhabitants of the archaeological areas in the ancient necropolis of Thebes reached it - it has become an important architectural, artistic and human heritage, it was necessary to save it from damage and disappearance.

The former dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts at Luxor University pointed out that the village and its landmarks embody all the foundations of architecture founded by the late international engineer Hassan Fathy, an architectural style that moved from Luxor to other cities inside Egypt, and even moved to other Arab and foreign countries, and today it has become a dominant architectural style in Lots of tourist buildings, hotel resorts, and private homes too.

The domes, for which the Hassan Fathi Building was founded, have become a prominent landmark that draws the attention of tourists during their tours between the archaeological and tourist attractions in the western mainland of Luxor.

Some members of the restoration team of "Hassan Fathi Village" which is characterized by the use of cheap materials from the surrounding environment (German)

Hassan Fathi Building

Mohamed Salem Abdel Wareth - one of the workers in the field of restoration and maintenance of historical buildings and heritage buildings belonging to the Hassan Fathi architecture - said that the architectural style in which the houses and facilities of the village of Hassan Fathi were built, especially the style of domes and arabesques, the natural ventilation system, and the reliance on building materials from the local environment Surrounding the village, it is an architectural style in which other famous buildings were built on the western mainland of Luxor, including the famous Italian restorer’s house “Stobler”, located at the beginning of the road leading to the Valley of the Kings region rich in the tombs of the kings of ancient Egypt west of Luxor, which underwent a major restoration project, and turned into a center for reproduction Tombs of the kings, queens and nobles of the pharaohs.

As well as the home of the British Howard Carter, the discoverer of the tomb of the golden pharaoh King Tutankhamun, which is also located on the road leading to the Valley of the Kings, which today has become a museum that tells visitors the story of one of the most important archaeological discoveries in history, which is the discovery of the tomb and treasures of King Tutankhamun, as it tells an aspect of From the life of British explorer Howard Carter, who resided there for many years in the early twentieth century.

The start of the second phase of the restoration of the village of Hassan Fathi due to its heritage and architectural value (Al-Jazeera)

Restoration and Revival Project

The head of the Isis Association for Culture and Development in Luxor, Sherine Al-Najjar, tells the story of the project to restore and revive the landmarks of the village of the late scientist Hassan Fathi - located at the entrance to the ancient Thebes necropolis, rich in hundreds of tombs and dozens of temples built by the ancient Egyptians - a project that dates back to years ago, when Dr. Samir was Faraj, governor of Luxor.

She added that during that period, an idea was proposed to transform the village into an international center for the heritage of the Middle East, and plans for the work of that center were drawn up in an international conference in which the Director of the Heritage Center at UNESCO at the time, and a crowd of heritage and historical architecture scholars, hosted it in Luxor, but - according to Al-Najjar - the project stumbled after the revolution of January 25, 2011.

The head of the Isis Association for Culture and Development pointed out that the demands of those concerned with preserving heritage and historical architecture to save the village's landmarks remained reluctant, until a project was set up to protect the village's landmarks in cooperation between Egypt and UNESCO, noting that work on the first phase of the project has ended, and that work has begun on The second phase, due to the heritage and architectural value of the village.

President of the Isis Association for Culture and Development: A project has been developed to protect the village in cooperation between Egypt and UNESCO (German)

The arms of the historic Mount Qurna

It is noteworthy that the late Egyptian architect, Engineer Hassan Fathi, had built the village houses as part of a project that the Egyptian authorities sought to implement in the fifth decade of the last century, and aimed at relocating hundreds of residents who were residing in houses built over the tombs of the pharaohs in the arms of the historic Mount Qurna, which includes hundreds of tombs It was built by the ancient Egyptians in the so-called Theban Necropolis.

Engineer Hassan Fathi built the village using cheap materials from the surrounding environment. The village houses included bathroom towers, cellars, mashrabiyas using arabesque art, and mud brick mashrabiyas to serve as a natural filter for ventilation inside those houses.