When was the Suez Canal opened?

When was the Suez Canal opened?

If you look at the map of the world, you will see that a narrow strip of land known as isthmus, separates the Mediterranean Sea from the Red Sea. This meant that ships sailing between Europe and Asia had to go all the way around Africa to reach their destination – a very long way indeed. Goods were also sometimes offloaded from ships and carried over the land between the Mediterranean and Red Sea, which was also very inconvenient and costly.

In the nineteenth century France made plans to dig a canal through the isthmus linking the Mediterranean and Red Sea. this scheme was the brainchild of a French engineer name Ferdinand de Lesseps. In 1860, work on the canal started but it was a difficult and costly project, that was carried out in the face of much opposition.

The triumphant opening of the Suez Canal was performed by French Empress Eugenie on 17th November 1869 in the Imperial yacht Aigle. This was the crowning glory of de Lessep’s achievement. The first ship to follow the yacht Aigle through the canal was the British P&O liner Delta.

The world, especially the French nation, considered the Suez Canal a symbol of the times. It was often compared as a gigantic achievement that rivaled the building of the Great Pyramid, yet benefiting all mankind by being freely open to the ships of all nations.