Overview
Built on the site of a small mansion owned by Abidin Bey, Abdeen Bey, Abdeen Palace, which is named after him, has adornments, paintings, and a large number of clocks scattered in the parlors and wings, most of which are decorated with pure gold. Built under the rule of Khedive Ismail, Ismail Pasha, to become Egypt's official government headquarters instead of the Cairo Citadel, Citadel of Cairo (which had been the center of Egyptian government since the Middle Ages), this palace was used as well for official events and ceremonies. The construction started in 1863 and continued for 10 years and the palace was officially inaugurated in 1874. Erected on an area of 24 feddans, the palace was designed by the France, French architect Léon Rousseau along with a large number of Egyptian, Italian, French and European decorators. A new wing was added by Joseph Urban in 1891. However, the palace's garden was added in 1921 by Sultan Fuad I on an area of 20 feddans. The cost of building the palace reached Egyptian pound, £E700,000 in addition to £E2 million for its furnishing. Between four palaces, King Fuad spent more than 18 million French francs with just one Paris, Parisian furniture manufacturer ''François Linke, Linke & Cie''.Christopher Payne, ‘François Linke 1855-1946, The Belle Époque of French Furniture’, Antique Collector’s Club 2003, p.269 More money was also spent on the palace's alteration, preservation and maintenance by consecutive rulers. The palace has 500 rooms.Museum
The palace today is a museum, located in the Old Cairo district of Abdin (Cairo), Abdin. 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 A new museum, the Historical Documents Museum, was opened in January 2005.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 (decree), firman'', or decree, which established the rule of Muhammad Ali of Egypt, Muhammad Ali and his family, and a certificate for the Order of the Iron Crown, from the short-lived South American Kingdom of Araucanía and Patagonia.See also
*Abdeen Palace Incident of 1942References
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