150 years ago, the construction of the Suez Canal began

Port Said/Prague - Exactly 150 years ago, on April 25, 1859, construction of the Suez Canal began in Egypt's Port Said. The ceremonial groundbreaking of this immensely important waterway connecting the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea was conducted by the man who was most instrumental in its creation, former French diplomat Ferdinand de Lesseps.
    He became interested in the project as early as the 1830s when he served as consul in Cairo. However, he was able to push it through only after his childhood friend Sa'id Pasha became the new Egyptian ruler in 1854, who granted him the concession to build the canal in the same year. Two years later, he signed a contract with the Egyptian viceroy that guaranteed the Suez Canal Company's, which Lesseps founded and headed, concession to operate the canal for 99 years from its completion.
    The canal is 163 kilometers long, took ten years to build, and was accompanied by many financial and technical complications. It was opened amidst great fanfare and in the presence of many "anointed" and famous heads on November 17, 1869. At that time, its narrowest point measured 22 meters, its average depth was eight meters, and to facilitate navigation, eleven switches were established within it. Since then, it has been widened and deepened several times.