Suakin Island: the coral ghost of the Red Sea (13 photos + 1 video)
Suakin is more than just picturesque ruins. It's a grudge frozen in limestone. 
Imagine a city built from living material, and one day this material decides to take revenge on its creators. 
Hidden in northeastern Sudan, in a narrow inlet of the Red Sea, lies an island city that resembles the petrified heart of the continent. For nearly a thousand years, Suakin was a place where worlds collided. Traders from Venice and India sailed here, pilgrims from Africa made their way to Mecca, and Ottoman pashas built mosques and palaces from dazzling white coral. 
Contemporaries called it the "White City" and "Venice of the Red Sea" for its elegant terraced houses, carved wooden lattices, and canals. 
Suakin's strategic location brought fame, and then ruin. When the British built a new deep-water port 60 kilometers to the north at the beginning of the 20th century—today's Port Sudan—the old city was doomed. 
Residents left in droves, but the true betrayal lies in a legend whispered by local elders. 
The city was built from blocks of living coral taken directly from the sea. In the 1860s, the Turkish governor, Ismail Pasha, decided to expand the port and renovate the buildings. The corals were cut down with redoubled vigor... but they did not die. 
In the warm, salty water, the polyps continued to multiply. Over time, they obscured the fairway, and the harbor became impassable even for boats. The city, built from the sea, was destroyed by the sea. 
Damp winds and salt finished the job: by the 1930s, Suakin had become a ghost town, its lacy mosques and palaces crumbling to dust. 
Today, the island presents a surreal sight. Where life once teemed, now stand the empty stone skeletons of buildings. However, Suakin's history has a chance for revenge. 
In 2017, Turkey (for which the island is historically important as a former Ottoman territory) received a 99-year lease to restore it. 
Turkish restorers have already restored the governor's palace, customs house, and two mosques. However, the project stalled due to the political crisis in Sudan, and then came to a complete halt with the outbreak of civil war in April 2023. 
Today, Sudan is still torn apart by conflict between the army and the Rapid Reaction Forces. However, there is a ray of hope in this nightmare: a local initiative involving volunteer architects and with the support of the British Council and UNESCO is continuing the restoration of a mosque within the ruins. 
Suakin is still inaccessible to the general public. But the island remains standing. The "vengeful" corals no longer grow, and if the war ever ends, Suakin is ready to rise from the ashes.
