Prince Amr Ibrahim Palace

Coordinates: 30°03′19″N 31°13′33″E / 30.0552°N 31.2257°E / 30.0552; 31.2257

Prince Amr Ibrahim Palace
General information
Architectural style Neo-Ottoman
Town or city Zamalek
Country Egypt
Construction started ?
Completed 1921 (1921)
Cost 200 million Euros ($257m)
Client Prince Amr Ibrahim
Technical details
Size 850 square meters
Design and construction
Architect Garo Balyan

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

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] The architecture of the building was Garo Balyan, the youngest member of the Balyan family.[5] The cost of the construction was about 200 million euros ($257 million).[3]

The palace was used by the Prince as a summer residence.[6][7]

Style and layout

The architectural style of the palace is of neo-Ottoman.[8] It also reflects dominant styles of the Muhammad Ali dynasty in terms of its architectural and decorative style.[9] Total area of the building is 850 square meters.[6][10] It is made of a basement and two floors.[6] In the entrance hall there is a marble fountain decorated with blue ceramics.[1] The palace is surrounded by a garden.

Current usage

The palace became a state property on 9 November 1953 following the coup in Egypt.[8][11][12] It was first employed as a club by the Arab Socialist Union until 1971.[13] In 1998 it was renovated by the Egyptian architect Aly Raafat[6] and began to be used a ceramics museum in February 1999.[13] Then it became an art center, called El Gezira art center, also in 1999.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 El Aref, Nevine (4–10 March 1999). "Take some steps back in time". Al Ahram (419). Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  2. ↑ "Famille Souveraine". Egypt e dantan. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  3. 1 2 "Egypt: The return of the King?". Al Jazeera. 8 July 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  4. ↑ "Museum of Islamic Ceramics: Beautiful Browsing for the History-phobes". Cairo 360. 17 March 2010. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  5. ↑ Raafat, Samir. "Cairo's belle époque architects 1900 - 1950". EGY. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Museum of Islamic Ceramics". Egypt Holidays Diractory. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  7. ↑ Jonathan M. Bloom; Sheila Blair (2009). The Grove Encyclopedia of Islamic Art and Architecture. Oxford University Press. p. 49. ISBN 978-0-19-530991-1. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  8. 1 2 Raafat, Samir (4 February 1999). "The Palace of Prince Amr Ibrahim". Cairo Times. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  9. ↑ "Gezira Art Center". DI-EGY Festival. 2013. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  10. ↑ "Architecture in Egypt". MIT. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
  11. ↑ "History of Zamalek". Zamalek 101. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  12. ↑ Matthew Carrington (10 November 2008). Frommer's Egypt. John Wiley & Sons. p. 82. ISBN 978-0-470-40343-3. Retrieved 13 September 2013.
  13. 1 2 "The China syndrome". Al Ahram Weekly (557). 25–31 October 2001. Archived from the original on 13 September 2009. Retrieved 24 July 2013.
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