Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

El-Amir Taz Palace.. Center of Creative Arts in Historic Cairo


Mon 26 Aug 2019 | 11:23 AM
Ahmed Yasser

As you step inside, you find yourself in a courtyard at the centre of the structure, facing the different rooms. Unlike some other historical palaces that still hold the belongings of their original masters, there is not much to see inside the rooms of the ”El -Amir Taz Palace”.

However, the beautifully designed building, with its chandeliers and walls adorned with Arabic calligraphy, is splendid to behold on its own.

Decorations of  Palace

The palace also serves as host to many cultural events and exhibitions, especially during the month of Ramadan.

El- Amir Taz Palace” is also known as ‘’Dar Taz” is one of the most well known Mamluk Palaces remaining in historic Cairo. Taz al-Nasiri was at first a Mamluk of the Mohammed Qalaoun army.

El- Amir Taz Palace

However, he rose through the ranks and became the chief of council or ‘Emir Majlis’. He helped Salah al-Din Salih Mohammed Qalaoun to rise through different ranks and become Sultan in 1351.

The palace was built by Amir Taz in 1352 to celebrate his marriage to the Sultan An-Nasir Mohammed’s daughter, Khwand Zahra. He traveled in search of tranquility and peace of mind away from the city of Cairo.

This took him far from the threats he felt surrounding him in Egypt. He lived for some years in Jerusalem and then Damascus before dying in 763.

Interior design of El- Amir Taz Palace

The palace has a local community center including training in design and production of traditional carpets, and it partly acts as historic city museum displaying artifacts and architectural fragments.

Still, it has two courtyards, one has a large loggia with a fairly nice painted ceiling as well as other decorated stone portals. There’s a well preserved private bathroom, toilets and a few other rooms with painted wood ceilings and one large hall with faded fragments of decoration.