The Palace of Manial had fairly humble beginnings. Prince Mohammed Ali Tewfik (1875 - 1954) bought the land located in the Sharia Al-Saray area because he loved hunting and built a chateau as a prestigious lodge where he loved staying in Summer if he had no time to go back to Europe.
After his death, the palace and estate were preserved as an Antiquities Council-directed historic house museum and estate, reflecting the settings and lifestyle of the late 19th- and early 20th-century Egyptian royal prince and heir apparent.
The residence compound featured five separate and distinctively styled buildings, is surrounded by Persian gardens within an extensive English Landscape garden estate park, along a small branch of the Nile.
*A Little Bit About Muhammad Ali Palace
It is regarded as the largest museum showcasing Islamic art in the world as it includes close to 100,000 antique Islamic artefacts of various types. These have been collected from different countries around the world including the Arabian peninsula, the Levant, Egypt, North Africa, Andalusia, India, China, and Iran.
This valuable collection is characterized by its breadth of coverage across the different forms of Islamic Art throughout the ages, which makes it a beacon of Islamic Art and civilization for all times.
The iconic Palace also featured a tower which is located between the reception hall and the mosque. It was built in the style of towers in Andalusia in the past. Prince Muhammad Ali Tawfiq was placed at the top of the tower face clock and made its hand in the form of two snakes. The bottom of the tower is decorated with Quranic scriptures.
*Lesser-Known Facts about Prince Mohammed Ali
Tewfik was also known for collecting antiques and valuable items representing Islamic arts, establishing his reputation for having an eye for such artefacts.
He had a team whose mission was to constantly search for rare artefacts and bring them to the Prince for their display at his palace and museum in Manial.
Prince Muhammad Ali, who passed away in 1955, was exceedingly a knowledgeable lover of science. During his life, he became famous for his travels throughout the Arab world and Europe as a researcher.
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