Luna Park, Cairo
The Cairo Luna Park was a trolley park in Heliopolis, Egypt. Open from 1911 to the beginning of 1915, the Cairo Luna Park was the first Western-style amusement park in Africa and the first in the Middle East. On 19 January 1915, buildings and grounds were converted into an auxiliary hospital at Luna Park for World War I; the hospital was closed on 10 July 1916. The amusement park Heliopolis, designed to be an "oasis" of Cairo, was built in the first decade of the 20th century. After a 1907 stock market crash, the city's developers contracted with the Egyptian government to build housing for government workers; in addition, entertainment venues for the new arrivals were also planned, turning Heliopolis into Egypt's first entertainment zone. In addition to a hippodrome, polo field, cricket field, aerodrome, golf course, restaurants, and a new tram from Cairo, a new amusement park - Luna Park, the first amusement park in Africa and the first in the Middle East - was built around 1910. Opened to the public for the first time on 16 June 1911, Luna Park offered mechanical rides (including a switchback roller coaster), a midway, a skating rink, and restaurants. The auxiliary