The majestic palace carries with it serenity and mystery, making the description of "ghost house" more appropriate for it, after the Egyptians weaved dozens of accounts about the haunted palace from which sounds of screaming in strange languages at night and furniture moving and extinguishing fires without human intervention, to silence with the morning rise.
Baron Palace was not only the most prominent landmark of the ancient district of Heliopolis in Cairo, but it was a historical masterpiece witnessing the history of the discovery of the Egyptian capital from another angle, as "Heliopolis" or "Heliopolis" was just a piece of desert land that no one had ever set before, so I turned to it The billionaire and Belgian engineer Edward Empain, who held the title of "Baron" at the end of the nineteenth century in recognition of his efforts to build railways in Belgium and France and the establishment of the Paris Metro.
Baron Palace has been dark and suffering from neglect for decades, until the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities announced at the end of last June it reopened to the public, after restoring it at a cost of 175 million pounds (about 10.9 million dollars), in cooperation with the Belgian embassy in Cairo.
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After two years of hard work on the first integrated project to restore and restore it to its splendor, the Baron Empain Palace - Heliopolis icon - which has always attracted the attention of everyone who passed through it, opens its doors today for the first time to visit, to restore and restore it to its splendor ... The palace is inspired by the Cambodian temples built by a man Belgian industry Edward Empain in 1911. Enjoy shots from this legendary palace. After two years of hard work the iconic Palace of the Baron Empain, located in the heart of Heliopolis opens its doors to visitors for the first time. The Palace was built by the Belgian industrialist Edward Empain in 1911, and it's inspired by Cambodian temples, and bares witness to the story of Heliopolis, the Sun City. Enjoy a sneak peak inside this historic wonder. @ khaled.elenany #StaySafe #ExperienceEgypt #SameGreatFeelings
A post shared by Ministry Tourism & Antiquities (@ministry_tourism_antiquities) on Jun 29, 2020 at 6:47 am PDT
With the ancient palace beginning to receive its fans, visitors wanted to challenge their fears of this mysterious building, or discover the splendor of its unique design closely, especially after the restoration of statues and parts that were broken during the past decades, and the Egyptian government allowed visitors to enter the palace with a ticket worth only 20 pounds (Approximately $ 1.25), free photography is allowed from mobile phones, and a ticket worth 50 pounds for photography (about $ 3) with a special camera.
The palace, which covers an area of about 12.5 thousand square meters, takes visitors to a tour through the history of the Heliopolis neighborhood, where it appears in its reddish brown color that differs from the familiar Egyptian architecture, and as soon as you enter from the gate a train carriage that follows the railroads during the last century appears next to a group of vehicles Old garden in the outer garden.
The various motifs and statues in the style of ancient Hindu and Cambodian architecture that give the palace a degree of mystery, and the use of alabaster, Italian marble and Belgian crystal glass, can not be overlooked, which increases the beauty of the place.
History of the palace
The millionaire and veteran engineer Imban did not know that his trip to Egypt would kidnap his heart to fall in love with Cairo, and he decided to spend the rest of his life with it, but rather recommends that he be buried there if he dies in any other country.
Serendipity alone pushed him to those countries. From India, the businessman came to save one of his deals in the construction of railways in Egypt, but once he settled in it, he decided to have another project, which is the construction of a new city in a suburb of Cairo, which targeted its site to become a city of luxury and luxury, He built his palace at its center to be a witness to his achievement in transforming the desert into urban areas.
The palace built by Baron Empain is similar to the Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia and the Hindu Orissa temples. During Empain's presence in Egypt he commissioned both the French architects Alexander Marcel who designed the palace, and Georges Louis Claude who participated in the decoration of the palace that came to light after 5 years of construction in 1911.
As for the myths that weave around the palace, they have no evidence, as the daughter of Baron Empain did not kill and his sister did not commit suicide, as only two sons were born, and he had no sister called Helena whose owners claim that these legends committed suicide from the castle tower, nor has it been proven historically any One of the accounts is that Empain himself had epilepsy and even died of cancer.
Internal tour
Looking at the interior of the palace, the architectural ingenuity appears that confirms that the palace's location and method of construction were not random, as it was constructed so that the sun enters all parts of it and consists of a "basement" and two floors, each floor has seven rooms and a set of halls that contain antiques and Indian and Greek statues was Baron Empain has brought it with him to Egypt, along with an ancient antique clock, it is said that there is no parallel except for Buckingham Palace in London where it shows time in months and years and also in days, hours and minutes.
The "roundabout Dart" tower is one of the most prominent features of the palace, and it is designed in a cylindrical shape on a moving base that makes the tower rotate every hour to allow those on the tower to see the palace and change the views of view from inside the palace to the outside.
Perhaps these aesthetic factors have been a reason for a large public presence since the opening of the palace, despite the restrictions imposed due to the outbreak of the Corona virus, as tickets are depleted daily (900 tickets) according to the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities, which forced the ministry to extend the opening and closing dates of the palace on a daily basis.
The precious contents of the palace were stolen years ago, as it included murals, gilded statues and Belgian mirrors. It is also rumored that the palace design includes underground rooms and a tunnel that leads to the Baron Empain tomb in the nearby Catholic Cathedral.
Controversy over restoration
It is mentioned that despite attempts to beautify the palace as a project that is added to the national projects that are opened, this did not prevent much controversy due to the way the palace was restored and its shape changed and the choice of colors different from its original color, and opinions were divided between supporters and opponents.
On this, Tariq Al-Marri, an architectural expert and consultant engineer specialized in antiquities restoration, stated in a post via Facebook that there are criticisms from architects of the palace color, because it is completely different from the color used to their eyes, which is the dark "beige" color, and to adjust the color, white and paint will be returned The facade in the new color to "look" is old, and this alternative to the restoration is called deliberate forgery of a historical document, which is the building.
As for the consultant engineer and architect expert, Zaki, he told Al-Jazeera Net that the renovation of the building is shocking for any eye that has even a little artistic or architectural taste due to the absence of the degree of consistency in the color in which it was restored, which gave the palace a different color from the color supposed to have an antique building registered with the Ministry of Antiquities Like the Baron Palace, at a time when a suitable non-spot color could have been used in a way that gives a glimpse of the fact that the outer stone of the palace is old and not recent.