Egypt's Heliopolis Palace : Before it was presidential

"This was written very shortly before the #Jan25 revolution. I could not post it then for reasons that are clear to everybody, but I could not resist the temptation to publish it now when we find Egyptians for the first time heading in anti-Mubarak protests at the Presidential palace itself. The number of anti-Mubarak protesters is getting bigger as we speak."

Before it was presidential

If you are in Egypt or Egyptian, then you most probably receive in your inbox one of the forwarded emails about Mubarak’s presidential palace. The email was definitely full of photos that would wow anyone. “It is also a hot topic in Arabic forums.”

The first of these photos is not from the Oroba Palace, also known as Heliopolis Palace; these photos are from the Abdeen Palace.

The presidential palace and residence in Egypt just like the Egyptian flag changes when the president changes.

The story of this palace started with the dream of Baron Empain to transform the desert of Heliopolis into a metropolitan oasis combining this Eastern with Western architectural style to give us the famous Heliopolis style.

As a man of vision the famous Baron and his associates in the Cairo electric railways and Heliopolis oases company planned to have that huge hotel in their new city.

 It was designed by the Baron Empain's favorite architects Belgian Ernest Jaspar and French Alexandre Marcel. "The later designed the famous remarkable and legendary palace of the Baron" The biggest names of contractors, electricity supplies and interior designers and suppliers from Europe and Egypt were hired.

The hotel under construction "Panoramio"

The Heliopolis Palace Hotel was built amazingly in two years between 1908-1910 and do not ask me how.

When Heliopolis Palace Grand Hotel was fully inaugurated in December 1910, it was the most luxurious and biggest hotel in Africa and the Middle East; it was the Hotel Atlantis of its own time with 400 rooms including 55 private apartments.

Back to economic facts, The hotel had a French administration following the Baron Empain's company which now has become Heliopolis Company for housing and development.

The garden of Heliopolis Palace in 1941 "Corbis"

It was not strange then that its most distinguished guests were kings, presidents and famous businessmen of their time.

The dining hall "Islam Taha"

Another shot for the dining hall that has a theatre stage
"Islam Taha" 

The hotel terrace overlooked Korba street in Heliopolis
"Islam Taha"

Politics played a huge role in the life of that palace, during WWI and WWII the hotel was turned into a hospital for British and Australian officers and soldiers.

Using the halls in WWI as hospital rooms
December 1915 "Museum Victoria"

The hotel's garden was used as
a hospital in WWI "Museum Victoria"

In the 1960s after the nationalization it was used as an HQ for several governmental agencies then in 1971, it became the HQ of the short lived federation of Arab Republics.

In the early 1980s after restoration works, it became officially the new official presidential palace of the fourth President of Egypt Mohamed Hosni Mubarak.

I do not have any clue why Mubarak did not use the Abdeen Palace as the official Presidential palace to receive guests like he did at the Oroba palace, 

I only remember that he received Vladimir Putin at the luxurious Abdeen Palace only to tease Bush in 2005

In Abdeen Palace 2005 "Corbis"

All I think about is that Mubarak does not like staying beside a popular area like Abdeen in downtown Cairo.
Now Mubarak stays most of the time at the Jolie Ville resort in Sharm El-Sheikh owned by his longtime best friend Hussein Salem.

Heliopolis Palace Ad in 1922

 The weather in Sharm for sure is better a thousand times than Polluted Cairo and we should not forget that Sharm is too close to Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Israel just in case !!!

If you are a big fan of old Egyptian films, you can see the Heliopolis palace before turning into a presidential palace in Farid Shawky’s film “His Excellency”

Dear Isaac sent me that wonderful old ad for the Heliopolis Palace from the British press and it made me write this post because honestly, I have not seen any photos of the interiors of the Heliopolis Palace except the regular photos of that salon and that hall with Egypt’s map carpet.

Last year an Israeli journalist wrote a report about the 3 hours that he spent in the Presidential palace of Egypt, of course when you read it, you would feel that it is a huge adventure as if the man has entered a pharaoh's palace !!
 I wonder what this journalist's reaction will be if he enters the Abdeen's palace.

I know that from time to time through interior designers' family friends the Palace has undergone
restoration works and facelifts in the past 10 years. Amr El-Barbary, an Egyptian interior designer has supervised the facelift of its health club.

Mubarak, Chirac, the lady translator and the famous map carpet

On May 25, 2008, Ayman Nour wondered in his column in Dostor Newspaper whether Mubarak had bought that palace or not, during that time Mubarak’s brother-in-, Mounir Thabet hinted in a national TV show that Mubarak bought the presidential residence and became its owner.

Nour wondered where Mubarak got the money to buy that residence as he “Mubarak” comes from a middle-class family and his salary as a president does not allow him to buy a huge palace like that in that area.

This is beside the huge fact that according to article no.81 in the constitution the president is not allowed to buy or rent any state property !!

There could be a confession because as far as I read Mubarak’s residence is not at the Oroba Palace itself“despite it is too big to become a residence” but rather at the villa in front of the Oroba Palace since his appointment as a vice president in 1975 unlike what is common.

Already that villa was owned by the Jeweler of King Farouk and has its own legal problems between that jeweler’s heirs and the state last time I checked.

If you ask me, I think the Abdeen Palace is enough to become our presidential palace and residence, Presidents and their families should not stay there forever as if it is a family property.

The famous round balcony and hall "Corbis"

The interior of Heliopolis Palace "Postcard City"

The luggage label of the hotel
circa 1920

The Oroba Palace should return to Heliopolis palace hotel, its location is more than great for tourists and it is not historical like Abdeen Palace, in fact, it was built to be a grand hotel, not a presidential palace or residence.

Recommended links :

• A desert Taj Mahal by Samir Raafat
• Heliopolis photos and maps