A line of gold shops interspersed with narrow lanes gleam under gray buildings, their iron balconies battered by time. This is Alexandria’s famous Sharia Faransa (France Street), a bustling gold market where the sound of singing can be heard on a daily basis.
There are various versions of the history of France Street, the biggest gold and silver trading zone in the governorate that stretches from Tahrir Square to the neighborhoods of el-Mansheya and el-Gomrok in the Bahri district, but all agree on how it got its name. During the French occupation of Egypt, the street was the site of a stable for the French troops’ horses.