Brazil
Argentina
Bolivia
Chile
Colombia
Ecuador
Guyana
French Guiana
Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
Paraguay
Peru
Suriname
Uruguay
Venezuela
Germany
Austria
Belgium
Croatia
Denmark
Slovakia
Slovenia
Spain
Finland
France
Greece
the Netherlands
Hungary
Ireland
Iceland
Italy
Luxembourg
Norway
Poland
Portugal
the United Kingdom
the Czech Republic
Sweden
Switzerland
Turkey
Canada
the United States
Mexico
the Dominican Republic
South Africa
Australia
Fiji
New Zealand
Papua New Guinea
Province · Nile Delta
Gharbia
Gharbia, in the center of the Delta: Tanta and the mosque of Sayyid Ahmad al-Badawi, with its October festival, and the textile mills of El-Mahalla el-Kubra.
In the photo: The courtyard and dome of the Ahmad al-Badawi Mosque in Tanta.
Illustrative images. The pictures in this guide are illustrations based on the real place, not photographs, and may differ from it.
The province
Get to know Gharbia
Gharbia lies in the center of the Nile Delta, between the Rosetta and Damietta branches. The capital, Tanta, is a road and rail hub roughly halfway between Cairo and Alexandria.
Tanta is known for the mosque of Sayyid Ahmad al-Badawi, a 13th-century Sufi mystic. Every year, usually in October, al-Badawi’s mulid, the festival of his birth, draws crowds from across Egypt, with prayers, processions, music and stalls selling sweets.
The mulid sweets—made from chickpea, sesame and peanuts with sugar—are sold year-round in Tanta. In El-Mahalla el-Kubra, the province’s second city, are the country’s large cotton and textile factories.
Outside the towns, Gharbia is a plain of cotton fields and vegetable gardens, cut by canals. It receives few foreign tourists, but Tanta’s mulid is one of Egypt’s major popular religious festivals.
When to go
From October to April the days are mild. Al-Badawi’s mulid usually happens in October, and the date changes each year: check before you go. Summers are hot and humid.
Getting there
Tanta is about 90 km from Cairo and about 120 km from Alexandria, on the rail line between the two cities and on the Delta agricultural road.
Your questions
Frequently asked questions about Gharbia
What is Tanta’s mulid?
It is the festival celebrating the birth of Sayyid Ahmad al-Badawi, a 13th-century Sufi mystic, held around his mosque in Tanta. It usually takes place in October and attracts crowds, with processions, music and sweets stalls.
How do you get to Tanta?
By train from Cairo or from Alexandria, about an hour and a half from each city. Tanta sits midway on the line between the two.
What do you buy in Tanta?
Mulid sweets made from chickpea, sesame and peanuts with sugar, sold in shops around al-Badawi’s mosque.
What is El-Mahalla el-Kubra?
It is Gharbia’s second city and a centre of Egypt’s cotton and textile industry, with large factories.