The friendly city of Ismailija on the north shore of the Timsah lake (crocodile lake) excels through its shady alleyways, flower-lined promenades and the lush garden and park facilities.
After the completion of the canal, it lost its significance, but experienced an upswing later until 1856 as a British garrison. The warring conflicts in the years 1956 and 1967 strongly affected Ismailija. The city is a traffic nodepoint between Port Said and Suez, the seat of the natural science and medical faculties of the Suez Canal university, and the seat of the Suez Canal administration. Many Egyptians have vacation homes here and in the surroundings on the Bitter Lakes. The regularly structured city extends north of the Ismailija canal which is accompanied by the pier Muhammad Ali and surrounds the port with its shoreline facilities. On its east end, at the canal administration, it enters the Timsah lake after a lock. From the railway station, the Sharia Orabi leads south-east across the canal to the port. Also from the railway station plaza, a lively business street leads across the flower-decorated Midan Gumhurija to the pier Muhammad Ali.
