Ras El Tin Palace ( , literally, "Cape Fig Palace") is a palace on the coast of 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 east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...
in
Alexandria
Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...
,
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
. It is one of the
official residence
An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless of whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority (either their own or that of th ...
s for a serving
President of Egypt
The president of the Arab Republic of Egypt () is the executive head of state of Egypt and the de facto appointer of the official head of government under the Egyptian Constitution of 2014. Under the various iterations of the History of the Egypt ...
. Under the
Muhammad Ali Dynasty
The Muhammad Ali dynasty or the Alawiyya dynasty was the ruling dynasty of Egypt and Sudan from the 19th to the mid-20th century. It is named after its progenitor, the Albanians, Albanian Muhammad Ali of Egypt, Muhammad Ali, regarded as the fou ...
of Egypt and
Sudan
Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...
, it was a royal
palace
A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...
. Ras El Tin Palace is the oldest royal Egyptian palace still in use.
History
The palace is located in the Ras el-Tin quarter of Alexandria overlooking the city's Western Harbour.
It was built on a promontory which in antiquity had been the site of the island of
Pharos. The palace has a long historical association with Egyptian royalty. It is one of few palaces in Egypt to witness the initiation of the long-lasting
Muhammad Ali dynasty
The Muhammad Ali dynasty or the Alawiyya dynasty was the ruling dynasty of Egypt and Sudan from the 19th to the mid-20th century. It is named after its progenitor, the Albanians, Albanian Muhammad Ali of Egypt, Muhammad Ali, regarded as the fou ...
by
Muhammad Ali Pasha (r. 1805–1848) during the early 19th century. A number of foreign architects and engineers were commissioned by Muhammad Ali for the design and construction of the palace. Building activities began in 1834, taking eleven years to complete the original design in 1845. Complementary work and the construction of additional wings continued for three more years until 1848, when it was officially inaugurated during the reign of
Ibrahim Pasha.
Built on a rise above the harbour on the eastern seashore of Alexandria, the palace is one of a number of construction developments in the city initiated by Muhammad Ali to serve as a vice-regal palace. Initially based on the shape of a Roman fort,
the palace was given a classical
portico. It is said by tradition to be the site of negotiations between Muhammad Ali and Admiral
Sir Charles Napier during the
Oriental Crisis of 1840. The palace was used as a royal summer residence by the Muhammad Ali dynasty and as a government headquarters.
[ During the Anglo-Egyptian War of 1882, a British naval landing party led by Captain Jacky Fisher was quartered in the palace. Fisher described it as "very magnificent, but a mass of fleas and dirt". A seaplane base was established next to the palace during the period of British rule in Egypt as part of the British naval base at Alexandria.]Egyptian Revolution of 1952
The Egyptian revolution of 1952, also known as the 1952 coup d'état () and the 23 July Revolution (), was a period of profound political, economic, and societal change in Egypt. On 23 July 1952, the revolution began with the toppling of King ...
the penultimate monarch of Egypt and Sudan, King Farouk, sought refuge in the palace where he was besieged by Egyptian army forces. Farouk signed his abdication in the palace and departed from it to leave Egypt and go into exile.[
]
Style
Ras El Tin Palace has the shape of a large Italian Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
palace, with architectural elements and ornamentation inspired by that era, along with Baroque
The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
and Moorish elements.[ It was erected on a foundation of , surrounded by elaborate gardens of 12 ]feddan
A feddan () is a unit of area used in Egypt, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, and Oman. In Classical Arabic, the word means 'a yoke of oxen', implying the area of ground that could be tilled by oxen in a certain time. In Egypt, the feddan is the only n ...
s (13 acres). Fig trees (Arabic – ''teen'') were already on the palace site, inspiring its name Ras Al-Teen. Through the reign of successive kings the complex was used as their residence and the government headquarters during the summer season.
Various rulers made changes to the palace. It was totally reconstructed by King Fuad I in the 1920s, with modern services and redecoration making it similar to the opulent Abdeen Palace (built 1863), the larger royal complex in central Cairo
Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...
. The interior décor combined Renaissance elements with Byzantine, French and Modern.[ The redesign and construction was overseen by the Italian engineer Ernesto Verrucci Bey. The palace included a swimming pool with a large attached glass pavilion hall. Much of the opulent furniture during this redecoration was supplied by the Parisian ]ébéniste
An ''ébéniste'' () is a cabinet-maker, particularly one who works in ebony. The term is a loanword from French and translates to "ebonist".
Etymology and ambiguities
As opposed to ''ébéniste'', the term ''menuisier'' denotes a woodcarver or ...
, François Linke, on a scale not seen since Versailles 200 years earlier. At one end of the building was the harem
A harem is a domestic space that is reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A harem may house a man's wife or wives, their pre-pubescent male children, unmarried daughters, female domestic Domestic worker, servants, and other un ...
, but this had become disused.[
After the ]Second World War
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, King Farouk had a marine pool built on the Mediterranean breakwater. The pool was linked to Ras Al-Teen with a narrow and long paved lane atop the breakwater, with a jeep used to pass through waves breaking over it. The adjacent pool house included a sitting room, bed chamber, fully equipped small kitchen, and rooms for staff and storing recreation and fishing gear.
Current usage
The formal garden is open to the public, but not the palace itself.[ A naval base is located next to the palace.]
See also
* List of palaces in Egypt
* Royal Jewelry Museum – ''Fatma Al-Zahra Palace'' (Alexandria)
References and notes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ras El-Tin Palace
Palaces in Alexandria
Presidential palaces in Egypt
Royal residences in Egypt
Muhammad Ali dynasty
Houses completed in 1847
1847 establishments in Egypt
Military installations of Egypt
Egyptian Navy
19th-century architecture in Egypt