The Egyptian Embassy in Rome will hold an exhibition on Thursday showing images and documents telling the story of the Suez Canal since its inauguration in November 1869 to the present.

The gallery would be held at the embassy's HQ and would be attended by Italian figures, said Egypt's ambassador to Italy Amr Helmy.

Documents would show schemes and maps collected by late Italian Engineer Luigi Negrelli who was one of the first supporters of the connection between the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, Helmy said.

Also, studies made by Ferdinand de Lesseps and his scientific group in 1855 would be presented to the visitors, the ambassador said.

The enlarged Suez Canal, to be inaugurated Thursday, will allow ships to sail in both directions at the same time over much of the canal's length. This is expected to decrease the waiting time from 11 to 3 hours for most ships and to double the capacity of the Suez Canal to 97 ships a day.