Mohamed Ali Pasha Palace In Shubra - Egyptology

Egypt Contemporary Museums:

They exhibit relics from the era of Mohamed Ali and his family

Mohamed Ali Pasha Palace In Shubra - Egyptology

The Choice of the Neighborhood of Shubra

Although Cairo had many locations where different buildings were rundown and the owners of these structures never rebuilt them and Mohamed Ali, the founder of modern Egypt would have taken control of these pieces of land and erect his structures like many of his ancestors did, he refused to do such actions.

Mohamed Ali, on the contrary, paid attention to the empty lands that run parallel to the Nile to the north of the city and away from the center of Cairo and he chose the relatively new neighborhood of Shubra.

The reason why Mohamed Ali rejected the idea of taking a piece of land inside Cairo to build his palace was that he didn't want the Egyptian people to have a negative image of him if took the lands that belonged to other citizens.

Another reason was maybe that Mohamed Ali wanted to construct his palace in a calm district away from the evil plots that the Mamluks were planning against him because he wanted to have a sense of security in his house.

All these reasons encouraged Mohamed Ali to construct his marvelous palace in Shubra and the building work has started in 1808 and it was completed in 1809.

The Construction and the Design of the Palace

The architecture of the Palace of Mohamed Ali in Shubra was designed following a new style that was not known in Egypt at the time. The wide piece of land that was used to construct the palace made the architect choose the style of garden palaces, a style that was imported from Turkey, especially from the palaces erected on the shores of the Bosporus Strait and the Marmara Sea in the land of the Ottomans.

The architectural design of the palaces in Turkey consisted of a huge wealthy garden that is surrounded by huge defensive walls, with only a few number of entrance gates in order to monitor them in the best way possible.

Many structures were built all over this garden and some of these constructions had specific architectural characteristics. These were called hans or saraya in the Turkish language or kiosks in the English language, a word which was originally imported from the Latin language.

Among the most famous palaces in Istanbul which Mohamed Ali has copied many architectural features in his palace in Shubra is the Topkapi Palace, the seat of the Ottoman ruling for a very long period of time.

The first structure that was constructed in the Palace of Mohamed Ali in Shubra is a small villa that was built as a residence with a number of wooden buildings beside it that served as offices for the employees and places for the guards to stay. This is besides an anchorage for ships on the Nile. However unfortunately the whole structure was actually removed in the ruling period of King Farouk, the last kings of Egypt, in the 1930s to make way for the new Cairo Alexandria Agricultural Road.

Afterwards in 1821, the Fountain Villa was added to the palace which was totally designed and built by French architects and this structure is the oldest section of the palace that remained until today. In 1836, the Jabalaya Villa was constructed in the palace. This structure, which remained until today was constructed on top of an artificial scalar hill that had a square base with each side being 8 meters long.

A small garden was planted in each step of this scalar hill which was irrigated the waterwheel tower that was constructed to provide the gardens and the villa with fresh water.

Moreover, the Palace of Mohamed Ali in Shubra had the first modern system of lighting to be operating in Egypt. This system was first established in England in 1820 and Mohamed Ali called the engineer who invented it to make the special equipments and infrastructure needed.

Therefore, a gas laboratory was built near the River Nile to provide the palace with the energy needed to be lit with modern equipments.

The remaining buildings in the Palace of Mohamed Ali in Shubra

The Waterwheel Tower

This structure is the oldest surviving building in the whole complex of the Palace of Mohamed Ali in Shubra as it was constructed in 1811.

The Waterwheel Tower was constructed 130 meters to the East of the Fountain Villa in the middle of the fruits and vegetables gardens which were separated from the villa by a fence which some portions still remain until today.

The Waterwheel Tower is a huge structure that was made out of strong stones with its Eastern façade being 40 meters long and its southern façade being 21 meters long.

In the middle of the tower, there are four water wells where the waterwheels were installed to lift the water. These waterwheels operated using machines and not using animals like the normal style that was followed in Egypt at the time.

The water used to follow in certain channels above the roof of the tower and then it was gathered in reservoirs in the sides of the structure which were connected to pipes that used to transfer the fresh water to the palace and the gardens.

Attached to the Southern façade of the Waterwheel Tower, there is an ascending slope that was used to lift the machines that were functioning to operate the waterwheels. This slope was 10 meters long and 5 meters wide.

The Eastern side of the Waterwheel Tower consists only of a smooth wall with four doors. Each of these doors led to a room that overlooks the back reservoir of water. Each room has a supplement chamber where the tools and gadgets that were used to regularly clean the water wells and maintain the machines that were used to operate the waterwheels.

The Fountain Villa

This villa is situated 430 meters away from the shores of the River Nile and 230 meters away from the Jabalaya Villa. It was constructed in 1821 and it was designed by the consul of French of Egypt at the time, who was a close friend of Mohamed Ali and the decorations and ornaments were the responsibility of Yusuf Hakikan, one of the Armenian engineers who used to live in Egypt.

The Fountain Villa was constructed over a piece of land that was 88 meters long and 76 meters wide and it was built to be in the center of the gardens of the complex.

The Fountain Villa consists of a receptacle shaped structure with a number of doors and marble steps in front of each door. These steps lead to a different fountain that is based upon strong marble columns.

In the corners of the building, the façades of the four rooms and their supplements appear clearly. These rooms have marvelous colored glass windows.

The interior design of the Fountain Villa in the Palace of Mohamed Ali in Shubra is rather unique in Egypt. It consists of a central block with the sections of the whole building surrounding it. This block consists of a large water basin that is 61 meters long, 45 meters wide, and 2.5 meters deep.

This basin is coated with wonderful white marble all over with a fountain situated in the middle of the basin that is based upon statues of crocodiles with the water coming out of their mouths.

At each corner of the basin, there is a fountain as well; no wonder the whole complex was called the Fountain Villa, which is circular shaped with fish carved at its sides.

In the middle of each fountain there is a notable statue of a lion standing on his back feet with water coming out of his mouth. The fountain has a large gallery overlooking it and this gallery includes numerous marble columns and it is richly decorated with drawings and portraits of the Egyptian military fleet, and some Roman and Greek thinkers and philosophers.

The ceiling of this gallery is featured with its marvelous oil paintings and the ottoman baroque style of architecture that was quite dominant in Turkey at the time of the construction of the palace.

The Supplementary Halls of the Fountain Villa

The Fountain Villa has four supplementary halls that are quite astonishing in their decorations and their architectural design. The finest of these halls is the Salon or walnuts hall because the walls and the ground of this hall were lined with Turkish walnut trees wood.

The wall of this hall is featured with its large mirror that is decorated in the fabulous Moroccan Andalusian style. The ceiling of this hall has remarkable baroque style drawings in the golden colors.

There is also the hall of the Fountain Villa is the Arabian Hall which walls were decorated with green paintings of flowers and roses. The ceiling of this hall is featured with its distinctive wooden arabesque screens that consist of small complex geometrical shapes.

Among the decorations of the hall there are certain sections where the names of the family of Mohamed Ali are written and this part of the hall was redecorated during the reigns of Sultan Said Pasha and Abbas Pasha, the successors of Mohamed Ali

Location :

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The Botanical Garden of Aswan - City Guide

The Botanical Garden of Aswan

Among the famous visits in Aswan is to see the botanical gardens of Aswan , you can sail in a local felucca boat or take a motor boat to the eastern bank of the Nile to reach this island. where this botanical island is located opposite the city of Aswan and the elephantine island.

History of the island

other names of the island is Kitchener island because in 1899 lord Kitchener during his military campaigns in the Sudan made the island his head-quarter for his army, it was then known as the lords house.

Soon after the lord left the island it was given back to the ministry of irrigation and was then known as the kings island.

Ever since 1928 and the ministry of irrigation has transferred the island into natural part full of trees from the 5 continents. 

How to visit the island

The island has 3 entrances, The main entrance is located on the northern tip off the island, the entrance fees is 10 EGP. The best way to see the island in full and save walking is to get of at the main entrance and walk the full length of the island till you reach the southern tip of the island and get your felucca from there. You may need to ask your felucca man to wait for you at the other end. The Aswan botanical island is divided into 27 squares with veridical and horizontal paths cutting each other making it like a chess board.

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The Montaza Gardens and Palaces

The Montaza Gardens and Palaces

The Montaza Complex is located at the Eastern edge of the city of Alexandria on the north coast of Egypt. The complex, which size ranges around 360 acre, overseas a gulf that was called Al Montaza Gulf.

The complex contains five beaches for swimming: Aida, Cleopatra, Vanessa, Semiramis, and the private beach of Helnan Palestine Hotel.


All sorts of sea activity can be done in Montaza. One can ride a sea boat and take a ride around the complex or you can go waterskiing as well, diving, snorkeling, or even just chill out in front of the sea.

The history of the complex

In the year 1892, Abbas Helmy II, the last Khedive of Egypt and Sudan, used to like riding horses and donkeys on the shores and in the neighborhoods of Alexandria with some of his friends like Ahmed Shafiq Pasha. They used to start their rides from Sidi Bisher, a neighborhood in the west of the city of Alexandria today and then they move to different places of the jewel of the Mediterranean.

In one summer night, Helmy ordered his men to prepare 80 donkeys for his ride in 

Alexandria. This is besides the Khedive Music band that consisted of 48 music players and their instruments. When they reached Sidi Bisher, a group of Bedouins heard the music and when they knew that the Khedive is among the ride they came and greeted him and followed him around.

The Khedive Helmy II loved an area near Sidi Bisher because of the scenes of the sea there and because of the quite and fascinating atmosphere of this location. He even went again to view this area more clearly and he went to a specific spot that is located between two eminences and has a small island to its North, and from this moment Helmy decided to have this spot as his summer residence and decided to build a palace and some gardens there.

On the top of one of these eminences, there were old canons that go back to the reign of Mohamed Ali who put them there to protect the North Coast of Egypt and the city of Alexandria. These canons are still at the same spot till today and Helmy built the Salamlek Palace in front of it.

The other eminence's top contained a center for coast guards and the Khedive bought it form the government and built the Haramlek Palace there.

Helmy II also bought the house of Sinadino, a rich Alexandrian tradesman and added the land to his complex and he bought a lot of lands from people living in the area to expand the space of his summer resort. The Khedive followed the construction of the two palaces himself and he named the whole complex, the Montazah, or the garden, a name that was suggested to him by Mahmoud Shokry Pasha, the head of the Turkish Divan in Egypt.

After the death of Abbas Helmy II, the royal family continued taking care of the Montazah complex until the reign of the last king of Egypt, Farouk I. then, the Egyptian revolution of 1952 took place and the Palace was owned by the government which opened the gardens for public and the Salamlek Palace was transformed into a museum until it was added to the presidential palaces which serve as a hosting place for the president's visitors.

The Garden of the Montaza

The garden of Al Montazah which is 3000 meters wide contains a huge selection of trees and plants and some of them are quite rare. Some of the tropical plants are still in good shape although they have been planted more than 75 years ago. The plant collection in Montazah includes: Catania, huge boots, Zamia, Carlota, and special types of palms. This is besides the big size plants like Anthurium, Hokiry, Araliaceae, Victoria, and Ropilia.

The Helnan Palestine Hotel

This is the only hotel which was built inside one of the royal palaces that its ownership was transformed to the government after the Egyptian revolution in 1952. It stands just in front of the modern light house of Al Montazah.

The hotel was built due to the orders of the former Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser to host the first Arab Summit which was attended by all the Arab president and kings of the time. Afterwards, the hotel became the residence of most of the kings, queens, presidents, and important figures who visit Egypt. The hotel even hosted the visitors of Egypt at the event of the grand opening of the new Library of Alexandria. The list included, the French president jack Shirak, Sofia the Queen of Spain, and the Queen Rania the wife of the king of Jordon. The hotel is the most favorite summer spot for some of Egypt's artists and authors as well.

The hotel contains 233 rooms and all of them have sea or garden views. It also has 20 suites, two royal suites, and a villa which takes the whole space of the sixth floor of the hotel and it is suitable for large families and groups. The villa contains 6 rooms, special private kitchen, and a big reception hall.

The Helnan Palestine Hotel is famous for its various restaurants. The "Estacoza Restaurant', located directly on the sea, offers delicious fresh seafood dishes that like "the sea food platter". There is also the "Alexandrina restaurant' that serves international dishes and has an open buffet dinner all days of the week. There are Asian and Italian restaurants for specialized dishes. The "Zodiac Restaurant" offers soft and hot drinks, yummy ice creams and desert. 

The Salamlek Palace and Hotel

The Salamlek hotel provides its visitors with the luxurious style of the life of kings and queens. The hotel was originally built by Abbas Helmy II as the hunting lounge for him and his Austrian girlfriend who became his wife afterwards and changed her name to be Gawidan Hanem.

The name Haramlek in the Turkish language means: the place where men meet, Haramlek is the opposite of Salamlek, the place where women stay. In the reign of King Farouk, the palace was used as his special office and meeting hall.

The Palace was designed by Dmitri Fabersious, one of the most famous architects at the time. It was designed using a lot of rich decorations and it contained an artificial forest at the time and it was full of animals that the Khedive and his companions used to go and hunt.

The garden of the Palace has Italian canons that King Ahmed Fouad brought from Europe to defend the Palace against any attack that might come from the sea.

The palace was used a military hospital in the World War I where British soldiers used to be transferred there to receive treatment. After the revolution in 1952, the Haramlek Palace was transformed into a hotel and it was managed by Sphinx Tourism Company. The San Giovanni Company came afterwards and made a lot of restorations and renovations to the hotel.

When you first enter the main hall of the hotel you find yourself in the Khedive Salon with its luxurious furniture and it contains a collection of photographs of the Khedive with different important figures. You will definitely spend some time at the reception to be able to choose the best suite as the hotel has 14 special suites: "Mawlana Al Moheeb" Suite that contains 5 wide rooms and a special royal garden view, "Sahebat Al Essma" with its huge three rooms and wide balcony, " Dawlat Al Ra'ees" with two rooms and a wide balcony, or "Afandina" with three rooms and a big balcony.

The most fascinating suite in the hotel is the Crystal suite, or the queen royal suite. It was named that way because all of its items were made out of blue glass and crystal.

The Haramlek Palace

The Haramlek Palace was built by King Ahmed Foaud in 1925 when he ordered his Italian architect, firotche, to construct it to be the summer residence of the Royal Family of Egypt at the time.

The Palace has a distinctive design that combines different types of styles with the Byzantine style dominant. This is besides the Gothic, Classic, and off course Islamic styles of architecture. The word Haramlek is a Turkish architecture term that used to describe the place where women stay and it was forbidden for anyone to enter this special ladies area.

The Haramlek Palace contains a lot of French antiquities and it was decorated richly in the Baroque and Rococo styles that consist of amazing ornaments of plants and geometric designs.

The Palace consists of a huge open air hall in the middle of it with all the rooms and suites surrounding it. The palace has three floors. The first floor consists of many rooms and halls and the most important among them is office of the king, the billiards hall, and the dinning lounge. The second floor used to host the chaperones and servants of the kings and queens, while the third and last floor hosted the suites of the king and the queen with a huge balcony in between. This floor also has the baby prince suite which was designed out of cork in order to prevent the sleeping baby from being disturbed because of the sound of footsteps.

In the reign of King Farouk, the palace was renewed and restored. King Farouk wanted to dig a crypt that goes from the palace directly to the sea in order for him to use it in case of any attack taking place at the palace. However, he was not able to complete it because of the Egyptian revolution in 1952.

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