Baron Empain Palace

About Baron Empain Palace

Architectural structure in Heliopolis, a suburb near Cairo, Egypt

The Baron Empain Palace, also known as Le Palais Hindou, is one of the most unusual mansions in Cairo, standing in the heart of Heliopolis on al-Orouba Road. It was built for the Belgian industrialist Baron Edouard Empain, whose interests lay chiefly in tramways and who arrived in Egypt at the end of the 19th century to found the new desert suburb of Heliopolis north-east of the city. For his own residence he chose a design by the French architect Alexandre Marcel inspired by Hindu temples, first shown at an architectural exhibition in Paris; construction began in 1906 (some sources say 1905) and the palace was completed in 1911. The facades are crowded with statues and ornament drawn from Angkor Wat and the temples of Odisha, with elephants, serpents, dancers and Buddhas, topped by a distinctive tower, so the building looks thoroughly out of place in its Cairo surroundings. From the 1950s it changed hands and fell into decades of neglect that bred many local legends, until the Egyptian government bought it in 2005 for its architectural and historical value; the Ministry of Antiquities began restoration in 2017 and the palace opened to the public in 2020. Today it houses an exhibition on the founding and history of Heliopolis, visitors can walk through its floors and up to the roof terrace, and a small garden surrounds it.

Where:

Cairo, Egypt