El Hassana Dome Protectorate
Announced in 1989, El Hassana Dome Protectorate is in the Giza governorate and covers a land area of one square km, just 23 km from Cairo.
The Hassana Dome is often referred to as a museum or a specialized scientific institute that helps study geology and several geological formations, including faults and folds, and comparing these formations with other places. The dome is a perfect area for studying fossil science due to the existence of fossils gathered and preserved here in ideally reserved colonies. The climate change that characterizes the room also helps in the studies greatly. The marine fossils found here depict a complete record of ancient history.
The History of the reserve
The reserve is located on the Cairo-Alexandria road at Abu Rawash and lies around 8 km from the Great Giza Pyramids. The distinguished history of the reserve is depicted in its topographical merits and its geological makeup. It’s the only reserve near Cairo that has remnants from the crustaceous age dating back to about one million years. The rocks found here belong to the Stone Age and are believed to have been formed 60 million years back and from the rocky age about 40 million years back.
Are Covered By the Reserve
The Hassana dome covers an area of one square km and the highest point is 149 meters above sea level. Meanwhile, the highest point in the eastern part rises to about 109 meters above sea level.
The reserve's name comes from its dome-shaped hills which are located at the foot of the Hassana valley. The reserve meanwhile is divided into two by the Cairo- Alexandria highway. The Protectorate is one of the smallest in Egypt and is not very popular among tourists. Also, urbanization and pollution have taken a toll. The New Giza housing project is located nearby. The protectorate is referred to as a purely geological protectorate and you cannot find much here where plants, animals, or wildlife are considered.
Excavation contents of the reserve
The quarried content of the Al Hassana Dome gives it a distinguished meaning where the components are gathered as a well-preserved canton. The place represents an open museum that displays a complete record of ancient life, its climate, and the environment during the late Cretaceous age, which dates back to about 100 million years.
The Dome Reserve is also known to have some of the rarest plant species found only in northern Egypt.
Any person who is not a geologist or doesn’t have any love for nature might find the Dome Reserve something very ordinary.
But to the specialists and those having a keen eye for nature, the Hassana Dome truly does resemble an open-air prehistoric museum.
