Behind the doors of the obscure Mohammed Ali Palace

 A meeting point of the khedivate and monarchic eras, the Mohammed Ali Palace in Manial stands witness to the political shifts in the tides of Egypt. Muhammad Ali palace is one of the most beautifully unique palaces in Egypt. It belongs to prince Muhammed Ali Tawfiq, the second son of Khedive Tawfiq , and the brother of Khedive Abbas Hilmi II. The construction of the palace began in 1903 AD and the land of the palace was chosen by Prince Muhammed Ali himself to be a marker of 20th century Egypt.

The prince who never made it to kingship chose a very calm location for his palace, a place where he could relax and enjoy the beauty of nature. This land was an island of Manial El Rawda on the shore of the Nile in the Shubra area, extending to Al-Haj lake. 

Prince Mohammed Ali Tawfiq.
Mohammed Ali Tawfiq, forever a Prince.
Photo Attribution: Rais67, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

What makes this palace a unique architectural masterpiece?

Prince Muhammed Ali designed the palace by himself,  He created a unique inspiring combinations in spatial design, architectural and interior decorations.
This palace is the first to include various Islamic arts styles, the main Saray and hall of throne walls and ceilings decoration are made of gold in the Ottoman Rococo style, and columns depicts palm trees, other halls and saray of the palace also include decorative arts of Shami, Mamluk, Andalusian and Persian styles. The show stopper of this palace, the throne room stands witness in all its grandeur for the unfulfilled ambition of this Prince. 
The upper floor of the palace contains a very special room called the Aubusson room, because all of its walls are covered with the French Aubusson textiles. This room is supposed to be an identical replica of the Prince's mother's French quarters, in an attempt to convince her to come to Egypt. 

The palace also has two museums: 

  • The private museum which houses the prince's extensive art, including , furniture, objets d'art collections, clothing, silver masterpieces, glass masterpieces from crystals,  portraits of the previous kings of Muhammed Ali family and some rare medieval manuscripts.
  • The hunting museum which was added lately to the palace in 1963. It displays 1180 pieces of mummified birds, animals and butterflies from the hunting holdings of prince Muhammed Ali and other kings.

The very special garden of the palace contains a rare group of plants and trees collected by the Prince from all over the world, including including Indian fig trees, cactus genus and types of palm trees as the royal palm with white trunks as well as bamboo trees. The gardens have an overarching Persian style.

Interior room in Mohamed Ali (Manial) Palace
Interior room in the Palace with prevalent Ottoman influences
Photo Attribution: Kareemhany146, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Fortunately, this palace is currently open as a museum of modern Islamic architecture and arts of all types and motifs, displaying the various and rare holdings of Prince Muhammad Ali for all the public to see the exquisite taste of the ex-ruling class.

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