Abdeen Palace
Museum Complex
Location
Moustafa Abdel Raziq Street, Abdeen
Cairo, Egypt
Tel. +20-2-857938
Abdeen Palace
is a palace in central Cairo, Egypt. It was one of the palaces of
the former Egyptian royal family, the descendants of Mohamed Ali. It
was built by Khedive Ismail, though he never actually lived in it.
Construction started in 1863 and continued for 10 years but the
palace was officially inaugurated in 1874. Erected on an area of 25
feddans, the palace was constructed by the French architect Rousseau
along with a large number of Egyptian, Italian, French and Turkish
decorators. However, the palace’s garden was added in 1921 by Sultan
Fuad on an area of 20 feddans. The cost of building the palace
reached 700,000 Egyptian pounds in addition to 2 million pounds for
its furnishing. More money was also spent on the palace’s
alteration, preservation and maintenance by consecutive rulers. The
palace includes 500 rooms.
The
palace was originally built on land belonging to an Ottoman Turkish
nobleman named Abdeen Bey. The palace became the centre of the royal
court, rather than the Citadel of Cairo (which had been the centre
of Egyptian government since the Middle Ages) during the reign of
King Fuad I.
The
palace, located in the Old Cairo district of Abdeen is today a
museum. The upper floors, (the former living quarters of the royal
family), are reserved for visiting foreign dignitaries. The lower
floors contain the Silver Museum, the Arms Museum, the Royal Family
Museum and the Presidential Gifts Museum. A new museum, the
Historical Documents Museum was opened in January 2005.
Among other
documents, it contains the Imperial Ottoman Firman, or decree, which
established the rule of Mohamed Ali and his family, and a
certificate for the Order of the Iron Crown, from the short-lived
South American Kingdom of Araucania and Patagonia.
Abdeen Palace was the official residence and principal workplace of
the President of Egypt.
Abdeen Palace is considered one of the most sumptuous palaces in the
world in terms of its adornments, paintings, and large number of
clocks scattered in the parlors and wings, most of which are
decorated with pure gold. Built by Khedive Ismail, to become the
official government headquarters instead of the Citadel of Cairo.
The complex features a military museum of
all arms presented as gifts to President Mubarak on different
occasions, a museum of ancient weapons and a third of the medals and
orders of merit bestowed on members of Egypt’s formal royal family
and eminent Egyptian figures.
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