The Suez Canal opened for navigation in 1869.
The canal officially opened on 17 November 1869 after about a decade of construction led by the Suez Canal Company. It crosses Egypt's Isthmus of Suez and connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea, allowing ships to travel between Europe and Asia without sailing around Africa.
The opening ceremony in Port Said was attended by international guests, including French Empress Eugénie. Giuseppe Verdi was famously invited to write an opera for the celebration, but he did not compose Aida specifically for the opening; Aida premiered later, in Cairo, in 1871.
The canal has no locks because the Mediterranean and Red Sea have broadly similar sea levels. Egypt nationalized the canal in 1956. A major expansion project completed in 2015 added a parallel section and widened or deepened parts of the route.