Like the rest of the outer parts of Cairo the land where Heliopolis lies was a desert with no habitats and absolutely no services or anything of the sort.

While on the other hand the Empain family has been in Egypt for a long period, it was time they did something the people of the country they loved so much would remember them by. Cairo Electric Railways & Heliopolis Oases Company was full with Belgian developers while the project was still on paper. The story was about a dream the Baron had concerning the metro and he decided to apply it into his dream city.

The city was laid out according to the tracks and steadily grew within and around them. In the midst of the beautiful city and just when things started to get started and construction seemed to bee flooding the desert Baron Empain decided to build himself a residence; call it a villa call it a palace but don't forget to mention that it is a piece of art.

Hindu folly the Baron's residence was Designed by French architect Alexandre Marcel (1860-1928) and decorated by Georges-Louis Claude (1879-1963), the Palais Hindu was completed in 1911. Not far from the palace a great church was built named the basilique rumor has it that the granite vault under the basilique connects through a secret passageway to the palace. The project was a winner, developers rushed in from everywhere and construction rates were doubled then tripled. The new neighborhood was the new trend and participating residentially, commercially or financially within its streets was becoming a goal for a lot of people.