Restoration
work at the Baron Empain Palace in Heliopolis finally started this week after
years of delay, reports Nevine El-Aref.
The
legendary Baron Empain Palace on Orouba Street in Heliopolis is no longer an
abandoned edifice built in an Indian architectural style. Earlier this week,
the palace and its garden were buzzing with restorers and workers wearing
yellow helmets and bearing electronic equipment and manual tools, all
signalling that after years of negligence the long-awaited restoration project
has begun at the Baron Empain Palace.
“In
18 months, the exquisite Palace of Baron Empain will open its doors to visitors
not only as a tourist destination but also as a theatre and a cultural and
social centre,” Mohamed Abdel-Aziz, director of the Historic Cairo
Rehabilitation Project and responsible for the restoration of the palace, told
Al-Ahram Weekly.
He
said that the work had started in collaboration with the Armed Forces
Engineering Authority which had assigned the Arab Contractors Company to
execute it with a budget of LE113.738 million.
“This
budget is part of a larger amount of LE1,270 billion provided by the government
to the Ministry of Antiquities to restore and develop eight archaeological
sites and monuments that are in dire need of work,” Abdel-Aziz said.
He
said that these sites included the Mohamed Ali Palace in Shubra, the King
Farouk Rest House at Giza, the Alexan Palace in Assiut, the Jewish synagogue in
Alexandria, the Graeco-Roman Museum in Alexandria, the Giza Plateau Development
Project and the National Museum of Egyptian Civilisation in Fustat in Cairo.
In
order to achieve the work, Abdel-Aziz said that a comprehensive study of the
palace’s condition and detailed architectural and archaeological surveys had
been carried out before starting any restoration work.
The
studies had also included the palace’s photographic documentation and
exploratory drilling in some parts of the palace to inspect the condition of
its foundations. An integrated documentation file of all architectural elements
and façades has been prepared using 3D technology and comprehensive monitoring
stations.
According
to the Palace Rehabilitation Project agreed upon in principle by the ministry’s
Permanent Committee for Islamic and Coptic Monuments, after restoration the
palace will be used as a cultural centre, with its front garden hosting a
cafeteria and exhibition area and its backyard being converted into an open-air
theatre.
The
basement will be a social centre, while the ground floor will be used for
different purposes. The first floor will be used as a “royal wing” where
visitors can spend the night. A new cultural centre devoted to reading in
particular will also be provided in the palace.
The
story of the palace started in 1904 when Belgian industrialist Edouard Empain
arrived in Egypt to construct a railway line linking the lower Egyptian city of
Mansoura to Matareya on the far side of Lake Manzala.
He
became entranced by the country and its distinguished civilisations. Although
his company, the Chemins de Fer de la Basse-Egypte, failed to complete the
intended project, Empain remained in Egypt and married an Egyptian, Yvette
Boghdadi.
While
workmen were busy constructing the new suburb of Heliopolis, Empain asked
French architect Alexandre Marcel to build him a magnificent palace in the
Avenue of Palaces (now Orouba Street) that would stand out from the others
being built in the same period.... READ MORE.
Two
years later he established the Cairo Electric Railways and Heliopolis Oases
Company, which laid out plans for the new town of Heliopolis 10km northwest of Cairo.
When
it was finished, Heliopolis was a luxurious and leisured suburb with elegant
villas with wide terraces, apartment buildings, and tenement blocks with
balconies, hotels and facilities, as well as recreational amenities including a
golf course, racetrack and a large park.
