All you need to know about Sultan Hussein Kamel Palace in Heliopolis

CAIRO – 15 February 2021: Sultan Hussein Kamel's palace in Heliopolis dates back to the year 1908.

Sultan Hussein Kamel took power in a dangerous period in the history of Egypt between 1914 and 1917, when Britain had imposed martial law on Egypt during the First World War.

The palace, located opposite to Baron Empain's palace, was built before Hussein Kamel assumed power. It was then gifted to Sultana Malak, his second wife of Circassian origin, whom he married in 1886.

Architectural plan of Sultan Hussein Kamel Palace - ET

The palace of Sultan Hussein Kamel is among the first buildings of Heliopolis. It was designed by French architect Alexander Marcel in 1908 and was implemented with clear Moroccan influences to revive Islamic architecture.

Ownership of the palace passed to the state in the fifties of the last century, and the palace’s contents were sold at a public auction. The palace was registered as an antiquity according to Cabinet Resolution No. 1621 of 2000.

The Ministry of Antiquities had started restoring the palace in 2020, provided that this includes the meticulous architectural restoration of the building and all its Islamic inscriptions and decorations that characterize the architecture of that period.