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Port Said was founded as a harbor in 1859 by the Khedive Said Pasha. Much of the city is a man-made island, created by filling part of Lake Manzalla with sand dug from the excavation of the Suez Canal. Said Pasha created the city to house the hundreds of workers needed to build the Canal. The opening ceremony for the Canal was hosted by Port Said in 1869. Dignitaries from all over the world attended and the event was considered by all accounts as the party of the century. Port Said also suffered its share of setbacks through the years but today it is a modern, duty-free, and bustling port city with wide streets and an Old Quarter vaguely reminiscent of New Orleans in America. It is the second most important port in Egypt after Alexandria, the fourth largest city in Egypt, and a leading domestic tourist destination.