Prince Amr Ibrahim Palace


The Prince Amr Ibrahim Palace is a historical building in Cairo's Zamalek island, which is used as the Egypt's first ceramics museum and as an art center.

History and location

The palace is located in the Gezira area, an island in the Nile, of Zamalek in Cairo. It was built on the orders of Prince Amr Ibrahim, member of the Muhammad Ali dynasty, in 1921. The architecture of the building was Garo Balyan, the youngest member of the Balyan family. The cost of the construction was about 200 million euros.
The palace was used by the Prince as a summer residence.

Style and layout

The architectural style of the palace is of neo-Ottoman and of the neo-Islam. It also reflects dominant styles of the Muhammad Ali dynasty in terms of its architectural and decorative style. There are also Moroccan and Andalusian influences in the architecture of the palace.
Total area of the building is 850 square meters. It is made of a basement and two floors. In the entrance hall there is a marble fountain decorated with blue ceramics. The palace is surrounded by a 2,800 square metre garden.

Current usage

The palace became a state property on 9 November 1953 following the coup in Egypt. It was first employed as a club by the Arab Socialist Union until 1971. From 1971 the building was employed by the Ministry of Culture as an exhibition gallery for the paintings endowed by Mohammed Mahmoud Khalil. In 1998 it was renovated by the Egyptian architect Aly Raafat and began to be used a ceramics museum in February 1999. Then it became an art center, called El Gezira art center, also in 1999.