Editing Abu Qir (section)

==History==
{{Main|Canopus, Egypt|Battle of the Nile}}
[[File:Bataille d'Aboukir, 25 juillet 1799.jpg|thumb|''[[The Battle of Aboukir (Lejeune)|The Battle of Aboukir]]'' by [[Louis-François Lejeune]]]]
The remains of many ancient buildings from the Egyptian, Greek and Roman periods can be found near the town. About {{convert|3|km|sp=us|0}} southeast of the town are the ruins of the Ancient Egyptian coastal town of [[Canopus (Egypt)|Canopus]]. A little farther east, the now-dry Canopic branch of the [[Nile]] once entered the Mediterranean.{{sfnp|Chisholm|1911}}

The wide Abu Qir Bay (Khalīj Abū Qīr) stretches eastward from the town as far as the [[Rosetta]] mouth of the Nile. On 1 August 1798 the bay was the location of the [[Battle of the Nile]], fought by the British Admiral [[Horatio Nelson]]. The battle is often referred to as the "Battle of Aboukir Bay", though this title is more properly applied to [[Battle of Abukir (1799)|Battle of Abukir of 1799]], an engagement between the French expeditionary army and the Turks under [[Mustafa Pasha (Egypt)|Mustapha Pasha]] fought on 25 July the following year.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Connelly |first=Owen |year=2006 |title=Blundering to Glory: Napoleon's Military Campaigns |edition=third |location=Lanham, Maryland |publisher=[[Rowman & Littlefield]] |pages=55–56 |isbn=978-0-7425-5317-0 }}</ref> Later in the war, on 8 March 1801 at the beginning of the [[Battle of Alexandria (1801)|Battle of Alexandria]], units of the British army commanded by [[Sir Ralph Abercromby]] landed from their transports near the town, and faced strenuous opposition from General Louis Friant's French forces entrenched on the beach.<ref name="Farwell">{{Cite encyclopedia|title=Aboukir / Abukir |last=Farwell |first=Byron |year=2001 |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-century Land Warfare: An Illustrated World View |location=New York |publisher=[[W. W. Norton & Company|W. W. Norton]] |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=m-XpP_pdANcC&pg=PA3 3] |isbn=978-0-393-04770-7 }}</ref> The battle continued further down the peninsula toward Alexandria and did not end until 22 March.<ref name="Farwell" />

The town contains a castle that was used as a state prison by [[Muhammad Ali of Egypt|Muhammad Ali]] in the early 19th century.{{sfnp|Chisholm|1911}} The prison was known as Liman Abu Qir.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Fahmy |first=Khaled |year=2004 |chapter=Chapter 15: Towards a Social History of Modern Alexandria |editor-last1=Hirst |editor-first1=Anthony |editor-last2=Silk |editor-first2=Michael |title=Alexandria, Real and Imagined |location=[[Aldershot|Aldershot, England]] |publisher=[[Ashgate Publishing|Ashgate]] |pages=281&ndash;306, page 285 |url=https://www.academia.edu/30316699 |url-access=subscription  |isbn=978-0-7546-3890-2 }}</ref>

In 2000, an Italian archaeological team discovered the remains of British officers, sailors, marines, women, and children on [[Nelson's Island]], which lies in the bay.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Slope |first=Nick |date=17 February 2011 |title=Women in Nelson's Navy: Burials on Nelson's Island |newspaper=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/women_nelson_navy_01.shtml#five }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Reburial for Nelson's comrades |date=18 April 2005 |newspaper=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4455033.stm }}</ref>