If you take the coast road south from Hurghada and drive for around an hour, you will come to the town of El Quseir. At the heart of the town which is still relatively untouched by Egypt's booming tourist trade, is the Fort which dates back to 1571.
It was originally built by Sultan Selim I at a time when Quseir was one of the most important ports in Egypt. As well as being an important link in trade routes, Quseir was also the departure point for Hajj pilgrims on their way to Mecca.
In 1799, the French forces under the control of Napoleon took control of the fort and they held the fought until the British forced them to abandon it in 1801. It was the start of a chain of events that saw the British defeat the French in Egypt later in the year.
The British soon moved on and the following years saw the Fort at El Quseir used as a base by Muhammad Ali Pasha in his wars against Arabia.
In 1869, the Suez Canal was opening linking the Red Sea with the Mediterranean Sea. As a result, the strategic importance of the fort was significantly reduced. It's working life came to an end in 1975 after many years service as a base of the Egyptian Coast Guard.
Today, the Fort at El Quseir is a small tourist attraction for people taking a Red Sea holiday. The town itself does not receive many tourists and the two hotels at El Quseir are self contained resorts away from the centre. There is a modest entrance fee to get into the Fort which contains a number of exhibits telling it's history as well as a couple of items from the era when Italian investment came to Quseir from a phosphate company.