Prince Muhammad Ali Palace in Manial

Most of the people of the great Egyptian people believe that the Manial Palace dates back to the period of the rule of Muhammad Ali Pasha the Great, but this concept is wrong as a whole. It goes back to Prince Muhammad Ali Pasha Tawfiq (1875 – 1954), the second son of Khedive Muhammad Tawfiq and the only male brother of Khedive Abbas Helmy II. He was regent on the throne between the death of King Fouad I and the sitting of his cousin, King Farouk, on the throne of the Kingdom of Egypt until he reached the legal age on April 28, 1936 AD. Then he became crown prince until Farouk gave birth to his son, Prince Ahmed Fouad II. He hoped more than once to take over the rule of Egypt after the death of King Fouad I because King Farouk I was young, but with the wisdom of Queen Nazli, he could not do that. He was fond of owning purebred Arabian horses.

Prince Muhammad Ali held the position of Crown Prince three times, the first during the reign of his brother Khedive Abbas Helmy II until the Khedive gave birth to his son, Prince Muhammad Abdel Moneim. Sultan Ahmed Fuad I agreed to return to Egypt.

He appointed him crown prince for the second time until the Sultan gave birth to Prince Farouk. Then he was chosen as one of the three guardians of the throne in the period between the death of King Ahmed Fouad I and his cousin King Farouk assuming his constitutional powers upon completing the legal age. He was appointed crown prince for the third and last time during the reign of the king. Farouk until the king gave birth to his son, Prince Ahmed Fouad II.

Prince Muhammad Ali Palace Museum in Manial is one of Egypt’s most beautiful and important historical museums. The museum expresses an important period of Egypt’s modern history. It is unique in its wonderful architectural design, which combines the Islamic style and the various artistic schools that passed through the land of Egypt, such as the Mamluk school. It also includes some Levantine, Moroccan and Andalusian decorations, and even the Persian and Ottoman spirit spread. Therefore, it is considered a comprehensive technical school for the various elements of Islamic arts. The palace of Prince Muhammad Ali Pasha consists of several palaces surrounded by an external wall. The beginning of these palaces is the reception hall, the clock tower, the sabil, the mosque, and the hunting museum, which was newly added in 1963 AD. And the private museum, and the Golden Hall, in addition to the wonderful and unique garden surrounding the palace. Prince Muhammad Ali Pasha built his palace in 1901 and built this unique palace to revive the Islamic architecture that he loved, so he first built a palace for residence and then completed the rest of the Saraya palace.

He developed the necessary engineering and decorative designs and supervised all the implementation steps. The total area of ​​the palace is about 61,711 square meters, of which five thousand square meters is the area of ​​buildings, about 34,000 meters are for gardens, and about 22,711 meters are internal roads and others.

The palaces that make up the palace include many arts and architectural decorations of different Islamic styles and rare artefacts. The palace contains the reception palace, the clock tower, the path, the mosque, the hunting museum, the throne palace, the private museum, the golden hall and a unique garden.

And he set up in his palace a hall for the throne after he came close to realizing the dream that he had been dreaming of for years to become king of Egypt.

Palace halls:

Reception Saray: Its purpose was to receive official guests, and it contains rare antiques, including carpets

And ornate Arab furniture and tables, and the Saray consists of two floors; the first includes the honour room to receive

Official figures, senior statesmen, ambassadors, and the reception room for senior worshipers with the Emir in his mosque

In the palace, and the upper second includes two large halls, one of them designed in the Moroccan style, where it is covered with

Its walls are made of mirrors and faience tiles, while the other half was designed in the Levantine style, covered with tiles.

The walls, along with the ceiling, are made of wood with colourful geometric and vegetal decorations, meticulously executed, and Quranic inscriptions.

And verses of poetry.

The Residence Palace: It is the main palace and the first building to be constructed. It was the residence of the Prince. It consists of:

It has two floors, connected by a delicate staircase. The first floor includes the foyer of the fountain, the harem room, the Shakma room, the mirror room, the blue salon, the seashell salon room, the dining room, the fireplace room, and an office.

Prince Library. The halls of the Saray differ among themselves about decorations and collectables from antiques and exhibits between furniture, carpets, pictures, oil paintings and jewellery.

Al-Turki, and attached to it a tower overlooking the most important landmarks of Cairo and Giza.

The Saray of the Throne: The Saray consists of two floors, the lower one is called the Throne Hall, and it is a large hall

It has a gilded wooden staff of sofas and chairs covered with velvet, and it has large pictures of some of the rulers of Egypt from

The family of Muhammad Ali, next to pictures of landscapes from Cairo and Giza, and the Prince was receiving his guests in

This room is on occasions such as holidays. The upper floor consists of two rooms for winter sessions and a room.

A rare item dedicated to the holdings of Ilhami Pasha, who is his grandfather, Prince Muhammad Ali, and is called the Aubusson Room.

Because all its walls are covered with French Aubusson fabric.

The Golden Hall: It is called the guardianship salon, and it was used for official ceremonies, and although it was free of

Antiques are considered a masterpiece by themselves due to the vegetal and geometric motifs engraved on their walls and ceiling.

Very precise gilding. Prince Muhammad Ali moved this hall from the house of his grandfather Ilhami Pasha, who built it.

Mainly to suit the eastern reception of Sultan Abdul Majeed I, who came to honour Ilhami Pasha after his victory.

On the Russian Empire in the Crimean sanctuary. It was called the Golden Hall because of the implementation of the decorations of all its walls.