This grand building was erected in 1895 to house the Suez Canal Company, now called the Suez Canal Authority (SCA). Construction of the Suez Canal, which connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea, began in 1859 and took a decade to finish. The Suez Canal Authority, the governmental agency that owns and operates the canal, was formed in 1956, following the Suez Crisis. The new headquarters for the SCA is in the Irshad Building in Ismailia, Egypt.