Prince Amr Ibrahim Palace

The Prince Amr Ibrahim Palace is a historical building in Cairo's Zamalek island, which is used as the Egypt's first ceramics museum, the Museum of Islamic Ceramics and as an art center.

Prince Amr Ibrahim Palace
General information
Architectural styleNeo-Ottoman
Town or cityZamalek
CountryEgypt
Coordinates30.0552°N 31.2257°E / 30.0552; 31.2257
Completed1921 (1921)
Cost200 million Euros ($257m)
ClientPrince Amr Ibrahim
Technical details
Size850 square meters
Design and construction
Architect(s)Garo Balyan

History and location

The palace is located in the Gezira area, an island in the Nile, of Zamalek in Cairo.[1] It was built on the orders of Prince Amr Ibrahim (1903–1977), member of the Muhammad Ali dynasty, in 1921.[2][3][4] Prince Amr Ibrahim was the husband of Necla Sultan, granddaughter of Ottoman ruler Mehmed VI, also known as Vahideddin.[5] The architect of the building was Garo Balyan, the youngest member of the Balyan family.[6] The cost of the construction was about 200 million euros ($257 million).[4]

The palace was used by Prince Amr Ibrahim and his wife, Necla Sultan, as a summer residence.[7][8]

Style and layout

The architectural style of the palace is neo-Ottoman[9] and neo-Islamic.[10] It also reflects dominant styles of the Muhammad Ali dynasty in terms of its architectural and decorative style.[11] There are also Moroccan and Andalusian influences in the architecture of the palace.[10]

Total area of the building is 850 square meters.[7][12] It is made of a basement and two floors.[7] In the entrance hall there is a marble fountain decorated with blue ceramics.[1] The palace is surrounded by a 2,800 square meter garden.[13]

Use

The palace became a state property on 9 November 1953 following the 1952 coup d'etat in Egypt.[9][14][15] It was first employed as a club by the Arab Socialist Union until 1971.[16] From 1971 the building was employed by the Ministry of Culture as an exhibition gallery for paintings endowed by former Prime Minister Mohammed Mahmoud Khalil.[13]

In 1998 the building was renovated by the Egyptian architect Aly Raafat[7] and became home to the Museum of Islamic Ceramics in February 1999.[16][17] As of January 2019 it was closed for restoration for at least 2 years.

References
  1. El Aref, Nevine (4–10 March 1999). "Take some steps back in time". Al Ahram (419). Archived from the original on 21 May 2008.
  2. "Famille Souveraine". Egypt e dantan. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  3. "Museum of Islamic Ceramics: Beautiful Browsing for the History-phobes". Cairo 360. 17 March 2010. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  4. "Egypt: The return of the King?". Al Jazeera. 8 July 2013. Archived from the original on 24 July 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  5. Murat Bardakçı (8 October 2006). "Mustafa Kemal, önceki gün vefat eden Neclá Sultan'ın annesiyle evlenmek istemişti". Hürriyet (in Turkish). Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  6. Samir Raafat. "Cairo's belle époque architects 1900 - 1950". EGY. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  7. "Museum of Islamic Ceramics". Egypt Holidays Directory. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  8. Jonathan M. Bloom; Sheila Blair, eds. (2009). The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press. p. 49. ISBN 978-0-19-530991-1.
  9. Samir Raafat (4 February 1999). "The Palace of Prince Amr Ibrahim". Cairo Times. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  10. Mohamed Ahmed Abdelrahman Ibrahim Enab (Winter 2019). "Saray of Prince Amr Ibrahim in Zamalek Archaeological and documental study in the light of a new document published for the first time". Journal of General Union of Arab Archaeologists. 20 (1).
  11. "Gezira Art Center". DI-EGY Festival. 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  12. "Architecture in Egypt". MIT. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  13. Yasser Talaat (23 February 1999). "Middle East's First Museum of Islamic Ceramics". Inter Press Service. Cairo. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
  14. "History of Zamalek". Zamalek 101. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  15. Matthew Carrington (2008). Frommer's Egypt. John Wiley & Sons. p. 82. ISBN 978-0-470-40343-3.
  16. "The China syndrome". Al Ahram Weekly (557). 25–31 October 2001. Archived from the original on 13 September 2009.
  17. "Islamic Ceramic Museum". Eternal Egypt. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
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