Montaza Palace ( ar, قصر المنتزه) is a

palace A palace is a grand residence, especially a royal residence, or the home of a head of state or some other high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome which ...

, museum and extensive gardens in the

Montaza Montaza ( arz, المنتزه) is the name of both a district and a park in Alexandria, Egypt. The district includes the park, but the two are legally distinct. Etymology "Montaza" does mean "park", but like most words in Arabic there is an essen ...

district of

Alexandria Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...

. It was built on a low plateau east of central Alexandria overlooking a beach on the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ea ...

History

The extensive Montaza Palace grounds first had the Salamlek Palace, built in 1892 by

Khedive Khedive (, ota, خدیو, hıdiv; ar, خديوي, khudaywī) was an honorific title of Persian origin used for the sultans and grand viziers of the Ottoman Empire, but most famously for the viceroy of Egypt from 1805 to 1914.Adam Mestyan"Kh ...

Abbas II, the last Muhammad Ali Dynasty ruler to hold the Khedive title over the Khedivate of Egypt and Sudan. It was used as a hunting lodge and residence for his companion. The larger Al-Haramlik Palace and royal gardens were added to the Montaza Palace grounds, being built by

King Fuad I Fuad I ( ar, فؤاد الأول ''Fu’ād al-Awwal''; tr, I. Fuad or ; 26 March 1868 – 28 April 1936) was the Sultan and later King of Egypt and the Sudan. The ninth ruler of Egypt and Sudan from the Muhammad Ali dynasty, he became Sulta ...

in 1932, as a summer palace. It is in a mixture of Ottoman and Florentine styles, with two towers. One of these towers rises distinctively high above with elaborated Italian

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

design details. The palace has long open arcades facing the sea along each floor. President

Anwar El-Sadat Muhammad Anwar el-Sadat, (25 December 1918 – 6 October 1981) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the third president of Egypt, from 15 October 1970 until his assassination by fundamentalist army officers on 6 ...

renovated the original Salamlek Palace as an official presidential residence. It was most recently used by former president

Hosni Mubarak Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak, (; 4 May 1928 – 25 February 2020) was an Egyptian politician and military officer who served as the fourth president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011. Before he entered politics, Mubarak was a career officer in t ...

Public access

The Al-Montaza Park, the former expansive royal gardens of , are open as a public landscape park and forest reserve. The Al-Haramlik—Montaza Palace is a public museum of the Muhammad Ali Dynasty family history and objects d'art. The Salamlek Palace is now an adjacent hotel.

References

External links

Memphistours: The Montaza Palace royal gardens Park, Al-Haramlik Palace, and Salamlek Palace.
{{coord, 31.2886, 30.0159, type:landmark_region:EG, display=title Museums in Alexandria Royal residences in Egypt Presidential palaces in Egypt Palaces in Alexandria Gardens in Egypt Muhammad Ali dynasty Italian Renaissance Revival architecture Architecture in the Ottoman Empire Houses completed in 1892

History

Public access

See also

References

External links