Qanatir is home to one of the largest cotton factories in the delta, built in the early 20th century. It was closed down in 1995 and has been left to decay ever since. A few of the guards who have remained on site told us how important this factory was once to the city of Qanatir, producing very high quality Egyptian cotton. It was later with the introduction of synthetics onto the market, that Egyptian cotton was no longer as profitable and the government decided to close down the factory - much to the dismay of the workers and residents of Qanatir. The annexes of the factory follow the same style as the famous 'Qanatir khayreya' with very beautiful architectural elements. The factory itself houses a number of large machines that had been in use until the mid-1990's, and which the people we spoke to said were in perfectly good condition and could still be put to use today. Such a waste.
