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 | |
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General information | |
Architectural style | Neo-Ottoman |
Town or city | Zamalek |
Country | Egypt |
Coordinates | 30.0552°N 31.2257°E / 30.0552; 31.2257 |
Completed | 1921; 101 years ago (1921) |
Cost | 200 million Euros ($257m) |
Client | Prince Amr Ibrahim |
Technical details | |
Size | 850 square meters |
Design and construction | |
Architect | Garo Balyan |
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]
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]
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.
Museums in Egypt | ||
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