Mohamed Ali Palace

1. The Palace of MohaMMed
ali in
Shubra
Original design by Pascal Coste of Shubra Pavilion
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2. Muhammad Ali, the founder of modern Egypt, built himself a retreat
palace or an official residence away from the Citadel in the district called
Shubra. Its name is derived from the Coptic word shebrw or gehro which
means the hill.
Shubra lies north of Bulaq in the vicinity of the Muqqattam hills,
south of Cairo, a spot on the bank of the Nile, which he found perfect for
the construction of his official residence away from the seat of
government. It was much smaller and more aristocratic than today.
Egyptian history books paint a picture during Fatimid times when the
river Nile used to run along a line from the present Emad Eddine Street to
Ramsis Square. A story tells of a ship called Elephant, sinking nearby,
and on the wreckage, a small island was formed, and was called the
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3. Elephant Island. The name later changed to Badran Island, after a
religious Sheikh that used to live there. Now, a street carries the same
name (Geziret Badran), and it is right in the middle of Shubra. There is no
longer an island in Shubra, because it is a massively populated area a few
miles away from the river (which over time, has shifted away from the
district).
In the 19th century, Mohamed Ali, in order to build his palace,
extended Shubra Street all the way to his Palace in 1808. It was recorded
that the street had fig and date trees on its sides, and that a large mill was
established nearby, known to the locals as Al Mabyada, for its production
of white linen. Many residents were employed there. These facts explain
why there are still textile mills operating in northern Shubra, and why the
area attracted so many to come and live there
Historical Background for the Palace:
Mohammed Ali's Palace is considered to be one of the first significant
structures in Shubra which led to the consecutive changes that the district
later underwent. It was first transformed from being a vast rural village to
an elegant residential quarter during the 19th century and finally into a
crowded middle class zone during the 20th century. The palace was
originally built across agriculture land and covered around 50 Feddans.
The construction started in 1808 -the early years of his reign- and was
completed in 1822; however the complex kept undergoing alternation
well into the 1870s. Mohammed Ali requested that the construction
would follow the distinctive architectural style of ‘Garden Palaces’,
similar to other palaces and styles that prevailed in Turkey on the
Bosphorus and the Dardanil. Such design counted mainly on the large-
extending park surrounded with a great wall-fence with a few number of
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4. gates. Several buildings scattered within the garden. These building were
called Akshak or Sarayat. As for the interior chambers of the palace,
designs followed a varied and mixed styles ranging from Oriental to
European approaches unlike the interiors of his other palaces.
Mohammed Ali's archeological engineer Zul Fuqar Katukhda
supervised the building process. The first building constructed on the site
was the main residence palace, al-Salamlik. The Palace was annexed with
several other constructions set up for employees and guards of the
property in addition to an anchorage for Nile boats. But it seems that
Mohammed Ali was not entirely satisfied with the results, so, in 1820, he
hired French architect "Pascal Coste" to enlarge his residence.
The architectural style of the palace was unique in the way it combined
several styles; the European styles were used in the interior decorations
such as the paintings of Mohammed Ali and his family which showed
Italian and French techniques. On the other hand, other features and
patterns of the architectural planning and layouts show evidence of
Islamic approaches.
Another interesting thing that characterized Mohamed Ali Shubra
Palace was that it witnessed the first modern lighting system. England
came to know that system in 1820 by engineer M. Galaway, who was
soon called by Mohammed Ali to fix necessary preparations in his
palace. That was considered a great qualitative change.
Through the ages this magnificent palace has lost many of its features.
It originally consisted of 13 buildings used by Mohamed Ali Pasha as a
guest house for foreign ambassadors and members of his family. During
World War I, the haramlik (main palace)- which was built in white
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5. marble with loggias and balconies adorned with metalwork and stucco
arabesques- was demolished by Aziza Hassan, a granddaughter of
Khedive Ismail, when it was believed that the British were thinking of
using it for military purposes. It was rumored that fortunes were made
from some recovered materials.
In 1935 King Fouad used the buildings as temporary residences for
members of the Egyptian royal family and some part of the garden was
destroyed during the construction of the Cairo-Alexandria agricultural
road. A few years after the 1952 Revolution the palace garden became the
premises of Ain Shams University's Faculty of Agriculture, and the site
was turned into a farm complete with chicken coops, rabbit hutches, a
barn, research laboratories and cultivated areas used by students for
experiments.
Unfortunately, only three sections of the original palace complex are
still in place today: the gabalaya, used as a residence for women; the
fasqiya, a complex used for receptions and festivals, and the saqiya
(watering well), which once supplied the palace with water from the
Nile.
El Saqiya Tower:
It is considered to be the oldest building remained in Shubra Palace, as it
dates back to 1811 A.D. It is located about 130 m to the east of Saray el
Fasqiya in the middle of the vegetable and fruits garden. Its height is
13m.
This tower is a massive building of stone. In the center, there are 4 wells,
upon which were fitted waterwheel to upraise the water. Those water
wheels were rotating by means of machinery and not by animals as used
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6. before. The water was then flowed in pipes on the top of the tower
leading to 2 basins on the 2 sides of the building. These basins are
connected to pottery pipes that lead to the collective streams for the
irrigation of the gardens from one side and the Sarayat from the other.
Connected to the northern Façade of the Tower, there is an ascending
ramp that was used to raise the machinery of the water wheels.
As for the eastern façade, it is flat with 4 doors, each of them leads to a
room with an arched window that overlooks the back of the well and
annexed to each room another room that was used for keeping the
equipment of cleaning the wells and for the technicians who supervised
the waterwheels.
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8. The Fountain Palace or Saray al Fasqiya:
It is established in 1821 as mentioned in a document kept in Abdeen
Palace. It was designed by Monsieur Drofty- the council of France,
constructed by Pascal Coste and decorated by the Armenian architect
Joseph Hakikian.
It is a rectangular building, in the middle of each side there is a door
leading to the outside of the palace that is preceded by a marble
staircase.
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9. Entering through these doors, looking upwards we will see a semi-
spherical dome shaped ceiling. Then in front of the door and beyond this
semi-spherical ceiling, there is a compartment like a chapel that consists
of marble columns carrying a dome shaped ceiling but not as deep as the
preceding one. Those domes are decorated by portrayal topics, among
them paintings of shepherds, the Egyptian fleet in the sea, Greek and
Roman wise men. Also, there are many scenes presenting myths and
imaginational heroes. While the rest of the corridor, its ceiling is flat,
painted, decorated in parts of it with plant motifs in the Romanian style
known as "The Ottoman Baroque". In each of the 4 corners of the
rectangular hall, there is an inner room and its annexes that we are going
to discuss later. Also in each side of the rectangular hall, there are
windows, hanging upon which wooden shelves that are inlaid with
colored glass giving geometrical
motifs.
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10. The pool:
As for the core or the central part of the rectangular hall, it's a very
unique design, because it is a pool or a pond whose length is 61 m, width
is 45.5 m, depth is 2.5 m, and it's lined with white marble. Surrounding
the pond, are the units of the rectangular building that we have already
mentioned. Around the pool and separating it from the surrounding
corridor, there is a portico of 100 marble columns. In the middle of each
side of the portico, there is a belvedere (Gawsak) which is considered to
be the part of the chapel that overlooks the pool, and it's covered by a
vaulting ceiling, the top of which is decorated by a postal slogan that
clarify the position of Mohammed Ali; and this slogan is composed of 2
intersecting swords, 2 intersecting staffs and at the end of each there's
the tail of a horse. On the sides of all this formation there are 2 pistols,
surmounting it there is a helmet and in the middle of it, the flag of Egypt
is depicted that consisted of a crescent and 3 stars. This formation was
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11. known in the Ottoman Court as "Toughra" which was the slogan or title
obtained only by the grand vizier or Sader Al Aazaem.
In the middle of the pool, there is a large fountain carried upon statues of
large crocodiles that the water comes out from their mouths. They are 24
crocodiles, each one represents one hour.
In the corners of the pool, there are side
fountains, stand on semi-circular
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12. platforms, carved on its edges that overlook the pool, figures of marine creatures
that seem to be moving when water flows on them. In the middle of each of those
corners, stand a marble lion spouting water into the pool. On the top of each corner
fountain, the ceiling is formed by means of deep arches, painted upon which women
wearing transparent clothes, as if they are swimming in the air.
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13. The side Chambers
On the four corners of the Fasqiya, there are 4 rooms; each one of them
bears special artistic features, full of creation and harmony.
The Salon Chamber: On the right, when entering the colonnade, is a
drawing room with an exceptionally beautiful parquet floor inlaid with
intricate designs made of rosewood. It is a rectangular hall with a big
mirror that decorates the wall with the Andalusia and Morocco style.
This is surmounted by a heavily sculptured ceiling painted dark blue and
gold, with a handsome chandelier hanging from its centre. The room is
furnished with 19th-century chairs in the style of Louis XV lined up
against the wall. The floor of this hall is characterized by its sweet smell
of rosewood when it is sprayed with water.
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14. The Arabic Hall: It is known also by the hall of the names. The walls of
the room are colored in green and painted with flower motifs. Its ceiling
is decorated with the Arabic wooden Arabesque, having geometrical
motifs. In the middle of the ceiling, the name of Mohammed Ali and
Ibrahim Pasha are inscribed. Around this circle are the names of Touson
Pasha, Ismail Pasha, Said Pasha, Abd el Halim Bey and Askander Bey.
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15. Also, the date of 1270 H. is inscribed which proves that it was
redecorated at the end of Abaas Helmy I reign. For this reason we have a
portrait for him near the doorway.
This Hall is called the Arabian Hall for its Arabic decoration and it was
used for having tea and the water pipe or the shisha.
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17. The Billiard Room: It is said that this was originally the dining room
until the 1840s when King Louis-Philippe sent Mohammed Ali a billiard
table. The entrance of this hall is decorated in both sides with two photos,
one for the khedive Ismail, and the other one for Aziz Azet, who under
his co-regency king Farouk ruled Egypt in the first year of his reign.
This hall is supposed to have a billiard table, but this table is transferred
to Abdeen Palace.
In this hall there's an annex containing the billiard game pieces.
The ceiling is centered with a magnificent original Chandelier flanked by
two representations for the Greek love god Cupid, in the middle of the
ceiling there are twelve pictures of ladies symbolizing the twelve months
of the year.
To the right-hand-side there's a magnificent scene representing an
iconography between El Sham, Greek and Egyptian, in the middle of the
scene there's a representation of god Archimedes god of time in the Greek
mythology, to the right there's the sun deity and to the left there's the
moon deity, as well a representation of an obelisk, a Greek temple and the
temple of Baalbek.
After leaving the hall and on the right-hand-side of the colonnade there's
a photo for Mohammed Ali the junior.
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20. The Dinning Room: Its ceiling has wooden gilded projections that
divided the wall into geometrical motifs, inside it there are paintings of
different topics.
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21. Saraya El Gabalaya
This building is established in 1836, upon an artificial steps made in 5
levels, each has its length, height and garden in its side, and upon the 5th
level, the Saraya is built. It reminds us with the "Hanging Gardens of
Babel", as those gardens were erected on an artificial stepped hill, upon
which the trees were planted, and on the last step the temple was erected.
It has another name which is el Haramlek, as it was used by Mohammed
Ali's wives.
It has 2 similar façades which are eastern and western façade and in the
middle of each of them, there is an arched door, with 3 windows on both
sides. They are decorated by colored glass interlaced with lead.
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22. level, the Saraya is built. It reminds us with the "Hanging Gardens of
Babel", as those gardens were erected on an artificial stepped hill, upon
which the trees were planted, and on the last step the temple was erected.
It has another name which is el Haramlek, as it was used by Mohammed
Ali's wives.
It has 2 similar façades which are eastern and western façade and in the
middle of each of them, there is an arched door, with 3 windows on both
sides. They are decorated by colored glass interlaced with lead.
Recently, the restoration works revealed that below this building, there is
another room with the same dimension, used as a store room.
In the middle of the Hall, there is an alabaster basin that takes the shape
of a fountain, covered by a dome shaped ceiling, gilded and decorated
with plant motifs.
On the 2 sides of this Hall, there are 2 wings:
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23. Annexed to the southern wing, there is a room at its west and a corridor
ending with a bathroom at its east.
While the northern wing has 2 rooms within it, whose ceilings are
decorated in the Arabic style and inscribed with verses of Quran and the
names of the 4 Moslem Caliphs.
This building is characterized by having painted portraits on the back of
its main entrances, like the sphinx, Mohammed Ali's mosque, Philae
Temple and picture of Saray Al Fasqiya.
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