Suakin

Suakin is an island port on the western shore of the Red Sea, linked to the mainland by a causeway. Its merchants traded across the sea and along caravan roads into the Sudanese interior, while pilgrims embarked here for Jeddah and the holy cities of Arabia. Houses and mosques built of local coral stone gave the island a distinctive appearance among the ports of the Red Sea.

Already known as a trading port in the Middle Ages, Suakin grew in importance as routes to the Nile and inland markets developed. Ottoman forces made it a port of their empire in the sixteenth century. The administrative building known as Beit el Basha rose on the island around the middle of that century, as stone construction became more widespread. Suakin remained a meeting place for merchants, pilgrims and the communities of the surrounding coast.

The later city of Port Sudan also lies here.