Princess Fatma Al-Zahra 'Palace
The Princess Fatma Al-Zahra 'Palace ( Arabic متحف المجوهرات الملكية, DMG matḥaf al-muǧauharāt al-malakīya ) is an eclectic style palace in Alexandria , Egypt .
history
The palace at 27 Ahmad Yehyia Pasha Street, Zezeniya, was built under Zeinab Fahmy, mother of the princess, from 1919 to 1923 according to plans by the architect Antonio Lasciac . The glass bridges with which the building is equipped were made by a Frankfurt company.
The palace now houses the Royal Jewelry Museum, which exhibits the jewels of the Muhammad Ali Pashas royal family . It was inaugurated on October 24, 1986 and, after years of renovation, reopened in April 2010 by Suzanne Mubarak . The museum houses 689 exhibits in 31 rooms. In a travel guide from the 2000s, the collection and the house were described as follows: “ The best thing about the museum was the villa that housed it, with its painted glass windows and gloriously tiled bathrooms [...] The jewelry collection, an odd and charming mix of diamond-studdet tools, watches, miniatures, and medals, and some exquisite coffee cups, felt like the stuff that nobody could be bothered to take with them when the revolution came. "
Furnishing
The rooms of the castle are decorated with paintings of various members of the royal family. Walls and ceilings are adorned with oil paintings with angels and landscapes. The stained glass windows show scenes of a love story from the first meeting of two lovers to their marriage. The bathrooms upstairs are decorated with ornate colorful painted tiles. The renovation costs amounted to 50 million Egyptian pounds.
Fatma Al Zahra '
Fatma Al Zahra 'was the daughter of Zeinab Fahmy and Ali Heidar Shannassi, a descendant of Muhammad Ali Pasha. She was known under the name Fatma Heidar, and her initials “FH” can be found in many places in the palace. Fatma Al-Zahra 'married Mohamed Fayik Yeghen Bek in 1930 and they had three children together: Fadel and the twins Fayez and Faiza. After the coup in 1952 , the family left Alexandria and moved to Marseille , where Fatma Al Zahra 'died.
literature
- The Royal Jewelry Museum, Alexandria. Ministry of Culture, Supreme Council of Antiquities, 2002, ISBN 978-977-305-350-5 .
Web links
- Ahmed Ramadan: Royal Jewelry museum exhibits riches of a bygone era. In: Egypt Independent. March 18, 2010, accessed July 16, 2012 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Alexandria-City ( Memento of the original from December 19, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Glasbau-Hahn
- ^ Report on the opening of the museum
- ^ Matthew Carrington: Frommer's Egypt (= Frommer's Complete Guides ). 1st edition. John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken 2008, ISBN 978-0-470-40343-3 , pp. 139 (English, limited preview in Google Book search).
- ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from May 25, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Web links
Coordinates: 31 ° 14 ′ 27 ″ N , 29 ° 57 ′ 47 ″ E