Belqas

Belqas is a town in the north-western corner of the Dakahlia Governorate in Egypt, near the city of Mansoura and the town of Gamasa. Its older name was al-Mima wa-l-Maaskar, meaning the Mima and the military camp, and the modern name probably comes from Bilqis, the Queen of Sheba, joined with a Greek word for a garrison or military camp. The site also had an old Coptic monastery called Deir al-Mema or Deir al-Askar. The town's economy is mainly agricultural, with some sugar, rice and plastic production, a car maintenance and restoration facility, the resort of Gamasa and the natural gas fields of the Abu Mady region. Belqas has ancient palaces and villas that were once owned by princes and merchants, and the Coptic Orthodox monastery of Saint Demiana is one of its sites of interest.