Ras El Tin Palace

Ras El Tin Palace
The palace seen from the Port of Alexandria, 1983
Ras El Tin Palace is located in Egypt
Ras El Tin Palace
Location within Egypt
General information
TypePalace
Architectural styleItalian Renaissance
LocationAlexandria, Egypt
Coordinates31°11′57″N 29°52′07″E / 31.19917°N 29.86861°E / 31.19917; 29.86861
Current tenantsPresident of Egypt
Construction started1834
Completed1847
ClientMuhammad Ali Pasha
Technical details
Floor area17,000 m2 (180,000 sq ft)
Design and construction
ArchitectErnesto Verrucci-Bey

Ras El Tin Palace (Arabic: قصر راس التين, romanized: Qaṣr Ras El Tīn, literally, "Cape Fig Palace") is a palace on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in Alexandria, Egypt.[1] It is located in the Ras el-Tin quarter on Alexandria's eastern shore,[2] overlooking the city's Western Harbour.[3]

The promontory on which it is built was in antiquity the site of the island of Pharos.[4] Under the Muhammad Ali Dynasty of Egypt and Sudan it was a royal palace, and it is the oldest royal Egyptian palace still in use.[1] It was registered on the list of Islamic and Coptic antiquities in 2015[5] and now serves as one of the official residences for a serving President of Egypt.[1]

History

The palace has a long historical association with Egyptian royalty, being connected with the Muhammad Ali dynasty during the 19th and 20th centuries.[5] A number of foreign architects and engineers were commissioned by Muhammad Ali for the design and construction of the palace; the entrance gate with coat of arms was designed by Pietro Avoscani.

Muhammad Ali Pasha (r. 1805–1848) initially ordered that the palace be built in the form of a fortress[5] based on the shape of a Roman fort.[2] It was intended as a secondary fort to complement the Cairo Citadel.[1] Construction started in 1834 and was completed to the original design in 1845. Alterations and the construction of additional wings continued until it was finished in 1847. Built in the style of a grand château, it was used as the official summer residence for the Egyptian monarch and government, during the season when Alexandria became Egypt's working capital.[6][7][2] It was one of a number of construction developments in Alexandria initiated by Muhammad Ali to serve as a vice-regal palace.[2] It is said by tradition to be the site of negotiations between Muhammad Ali and Admiral Sir Charles Napier during the Oriental Crisis of 1840.[8]

During the reign of Khedive Ismail it became the summer vacation home of the rulers of the Muhammad Ali family.[5] They constructed a private railway line between the palace and Cairo[1] with a railway station inside the palace.[5] The palace was also given a classical portico.[7] In 1879, Khedive Ismail was forced to leave Egypt from the palace.[5]

During the Anglo-Egyptian War of 1882, a British naval landing party led by Captain Jacky Fisher was quartered in the palace.[8] A seaplane base was established next to the palace during the period of British rule in Egypt as part of the British naval base at Alexandria.[9] During World War II, the palace was used as a headquarters and hospital for the British Naval Command.[5]

Following the Egyptian Revolution of 1952 the penultimate monarch of Egypt and Sudan, King Farouk, sought refuge in the palace where he was besieged by Egyptian Army forces.[10] Farouk signed his abdication in the palace and departed from it to leave Egypt and go into exile.[11] The palace was subsequently nationalized, as were the other former royal palaces in the country. It was used as a presidential residence and for hosting state guests.[2]

Style

Ras El Tin Palace on a postcard

Ras El Tin Palace has the shape of a large Italian Renaissance palace, with architectural elements and ornamentation inspired by that era, along with Baroque and Moorish elements.[11] It was erected on a foundation of 17,000 square metres (4.2 acres), surrounded by elaborate gardens of 12 feddans (13 acres). Fig trees (Arabic – teen) were already on the palace site, inspiring its name Ras Al-Teen. Through the reign of successive kings the complex was used as their residence and the government headquarters during the summer season.

Various rulers made changes to the palace. It was totally reconstructed by Fuad I in the 1920s, with modern services and redecoration making it similar to the opulent Abdeen Palace (built 1863), the larger royal complex in central Cairo. The interior décor combined Renaissance elements with Byzantine, French and Modern.[11] The redesign and construction was overseen by the Italian engineer Ernesto Verrucci Bey.[12] It became a three-storey building and a mosque was built on the site.[5] The palace included a swimming pool with a large attached glass pavilion hall. Much of the opulent furniture during this redecoration was supplied by the Parisian ébéniste, François Linke, on a scale not seen since Versailles 200 years earlier.[13] At one end of the building was the harem, but this had become disused.[9]

King Farouk added the Princesses Building to the palace.[5] After the Second World War, he had a marine pool built on the Mediterranean breakwater. The pool was linked to Ras Al-Teen with a narrow and long paved lane atop the breakwater, with a jeep used to pass through waves breaking over it. The adjacent pool house included a sitting room, bed chamber, fully equipped small kitchen, and rooms for staff and storing recreation and fishing gear.

Current usage

The formal garden is open to the public, but not the palace itself.[3] A naval base is located next to the palace.[14] The palace now serves as a presidential residence and hosts state guests and events.[1] There is no public museum, unlike the Montaza Palace royal gardens and museum, also in Alexandria.

See also

References and notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f Barakat, Shereif (26 July 2022). "Places of Power: Looking at Egypt's Presidential Palaces". Egyptian Streets.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Ras el Tin Palace: description, facts, history, photo". Sharm Club. 12 December 2018.
  3. ^ a b Richardson, Dan; Jacobs, Daniel (2013). The Rough Guide to Egypt. Rough Guides UK. p. 474. ISBN 9781409323334.
  4. ^ Haag, Michael (2008). Vintage Alexandria: Photographs of the City, 1860–1960. American University in Cairo Press. p. 113. ISBN 9789774161926.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Ras El-Tin Palace". State Information Service. 11 February 2024 [16 November 2023].
  6. ^ Abdou, Mona (10 April 2022). "A King's Summertime: Ras al-Tin Palace". Egyptian Streets.
  7. ^ a b Forster, E.M. (2014). Alexandria: A History and Guide. Tauris Parke Paperbacks. pp. 110–112 & 167. ISBN 9781780763576.
  8. ^ a b Jameson, William (2004). The Fleet that Jack Built: Nine Men who Made a Navy. Periscope Publishing Ltd. p. 99. ISBN 9781904381280.
  9. ^ a b "Egypt: Key to the East – British Base at Alexandria Holds eastern Mediterranean". Life. Time. 28 April 1941. p. 94. ISSN 0024-3019.
  10. ^ Paul Crompton (25 January 2014). "The overthrow of Egypt's King Farouk: a dramatic departure from power". Al Arabiya English.
  11. ^ a b c "The Treasures Farouk Left Behind". Life. Vol. 33, no. 21. Time Inc. 24 November 1952. pp. 90–91. ISSN 0024-3019.
  12. ^ cost = L.E$400,000
  13. ^ Christopher Payne, François Linke 1855–1946, The Belle Époque of French Furniture, Antique Collector's Club 2003, p.269
  14. ^ Kibler, Joan F. (March–April 1996). "Alexandra team wrapping up pier, ship support facilities, at navy base". Transatlantic News. Vol. 11, no. 3. Public Affairs Office, Transatlantic Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. p. 6.

Media related to Ras el-Tin Palace at Wikimedia Commons

31°11′57.1″N 29°52′7.1″E / 31.199194°N 29.868639°E / 31.199194; 29.868639

allikas: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ras_el-Tin_Palace