09Feb

Montazah Palace

The Montazah Palace and the surrounding gardens are among the most beautiful places in the city of Alexandria due to the various attractions that this region contains,

as it combines the picturesque nature that is embodied in the beautiful Montazah Gardens and the great historical value represented by the group of palaces with an ancient architectural style,

in addition to what has been added, tourist facilities to the area, such as hotels and restaurants, with many picturesque beaches.

Montazah Palace Garden

The Montazah Gardens Complex encompasses 61 hectares of land and can be found on Al-Montazah Bay on the eastern outskirts of Alexandria.
Arab palaces and five-star hotels encircle this expansive park. Sand city beaches that run parallel to the coast of the Mediterranean Sea can be found on its grounds.

Most of the trees and shrubs that can be found growing in the verdant gardens are estimated to be more than one hundred years old.
The gardens are home to a wide variety of plant life, including several kinds of palm trees, tamarisks, acacia trees, and branchy hibiscus bushes covered in colorful flowers.

History of Montazah Palace

The Montazah Palace in Alexandria is one of the only royal palaces that witnessed the most important Arab and international political events. Inside the palace, the first Arab summit conference was held in 68.

It was also witnessed during President Carter’s visit to Egypt during the Sadat era. The palace was his residence during his stay in Alexandria.

Alexandria residents and visitors are keen to visit the Montazah gardens that surround the palace from the outside, which is the most important tourist destination in the coastal city.
On top of one of these outcrops, old cannons dating back to the era of Muhammad Ali, who placed them there to protect the northern coast of Egypt.

These cannons are still in the same place today where Helmy built the Salamlek Palace in front of him.

The other part of the outcropping contained a center for the Coast Guard, and the Haramlik Palace was built there. Helmy II also bought the house of Senadino, a wealthy Alexandrian merchant, added land to his complex

and bought a lot of land from the people who lived in the area to expand the area of his summer resort and called the park the name of this enormous mansion, which was named after the entire neighborhood.

After the death of Abbas Helmy II, the royal family continued to take care of the Montazah Palace until the era of the last king of Egypt; then, the Egyptian revolution took place in 1952, when ownership of the palace was transferred to the government.

Among the remaining monuments of the Montaza Palaces are the famous clock tower and tea cabin, built in Roman style overlooking the Mediterranean coast for discussions of state affairs, as well as the Princess Cinema, adjacent to the royal palace, which is a rich garden with a large wall, equipped to screen international movies to entertain the princesses.

Where is the Montazah Palace located?

It was also seen during President Carter’s visit to Egypt during the Sadat era, and the palace was his residence during his stay in Alexandria.

Alexandria residents and visitors are keen to visit the Montazah gardens that surround the palace from the outside, which is the most important tourist destination in the coastal city.

Who built Montazah Palace?

Khedive Abbas Helmy II admired the area when he was strolling along its beach accompanied by a musical band, which was playing at the time, and decided that the site included a palace and gardens for the summer.

The Khedive himself supervised the organization of the lush green and called it and the palace one name, which is (Montazah Palace).

On a summer night in 1892, Khedive Abbas Helmy II fell in love with that spot on the eastern outskirts of the city of Alexandria, so he ordered the preparation of 80 Makaria donkeys for him and his companions to ride.

The Khedive’s admiration for that region increased, with its beautiful tongues entering the sea and the way the water seeped between its rocky folds in a charming stream.

Then he returned the next day and crossed this area by a significant distance until he reached a place surrounded by two high mounds, with a height of 16 meters; There is a small rib between them, and at its northern end, there is a small island. From that day on, it settled in his mind that this spot would be his summer resort.

What do you see when you visit Montazah Gardens?

The Montazah Palace contains lush gardens, the largest of which is 3,000 meters wide, which includes a huge group of trees and plants, some of which are rare, and some tropical plants are still in good condition, although they were planted more than 75 years ago.

As you enter the Montazah Palace, you will see the Hilton Palestine Hotel, which is the only hotel built inside one of the royal palaces. The hotel contains 233 rooms, all of which offer wonderful views of the sea or the garden.

It also includes 20 suites, in addition to two royal suites, and a villa that takes up the entire area of the sixth floor of the hotel and is suitable for families and large groups.

It includes a group of shade plants, rare tropical plants, and a number of important plants such as giant potus, crota, and cantia. There are also large plants in the greenhouse, such as hokire, victoria and aralia.
In the second half of the twentieth century, various tourist facilities were established within the parks to serve their visitors from the public, such as hotels, chalets, and restaurants.
The Montazah gardens also overlook five beaches: Venice, Aida, Cleopatra, and Semiramis, in addition to the private beach of the Palestine Hotel.

Salamlek Palace

Description of Salamlik from the inside

The Salamlek Palace includes fourteen suites, perhaps the most important of which is the Royal Suite, which directly overlooks the Montazah Gardens, and the Crystal Room, which is dedicated to the Queen.
Decades later, King Farouk Ahed decided to establish the king’s office in the Salamlek Palace, add an outdoor cinema, and construct a bridge connecting the Tea Island with the royal palaces, and build a number of service buildings attached to the site such as the water cistern, the clock tower, the royal train station, administration offices and royal carriages, which were implemented by the Egyptian architect. The prominent Mustafa Pasha Fahmy.

Haramlek Palace

Description of the haremlik from the inside

The Haramlek Palace, which is a Turkish word meaning women, was established during the reign of King Fuad the First and consists of three floors. It contains the Crown Prince’s room, the floor of which was made of compressed cork, in order to prevent the sounds of the feet of the inside so as not to disturb the sleeping child. The Haramlek was renovated during the era of the King Farouk, who ordered the digging of a basement connecting the palace and the sea to be used in the event of any siege or attack.

After the revolution of July 23, 1952, ownership of the palaces and gardens was transferred to the state, and its doors were opened to citizens to enjoy, spend leisure time and relax on its beaches. The palace witnessed the convening of the second Arab summit in Egypt, which was held in Alexandria from 5 to 11 September 1964.

Tea palace in Montazah

On one of the small islands in the region, a palace or a small tea kiosk was built, in the Roman style, in which the king would have tea with his courtiers in the afternoon and discuss with them matters of governance.
King Farouk entrusted the architect “Mustafa Pasha Fahmy” with the construction of a bridge linking the Tea Island with the royal palaces. This bridge is currently known as the Tea Island Bridge or the Montazah Bridge.
King Farouk’s interest in the Montazah gardens was evident in his establishment of a special administration for it, which supervises it and the production of agricultural crops, poultry, and rare plants.

For the first time after 84 years, the Egyptian public was able to enter the “tea kiosk” at the Montazah Palace in Alexandria, whose entry was restricted to members of the royal family, as it was opened for the first time during President Sisi’s era to the public in order to view antiquities and history, and supervised its implementation during the reign of King Farouk Al-Muhandis. Egyptian Mustafa Pasha
The tea kiosk inside the Montazah Palace contains movable artifacts, including ten statues, the body of the fountain, and two benches in the garden.