Islamic heritage · Cairo
Baron Empain Palace
The singular "Hindu Palace" of Heliopolis, an architectural curiosity inspired by Indian temples and built by a Belgian baron.
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The story
The palace was built by the Belgian millionaire Baron Édouard Empain, a businessman and industrialist with a particular interest in tramways, in the early 1900s in Heliopolis, north-east of central Cairo. Its design draws on Hindu architecture and is credited to the French architect Alexandre Marcel. After decades of neglect from the 1950s onward, the Egyptian government bought it in 2005, restoration began in 2017 and it reopened in 2020.
Good to know
- The palace is also known as Le Palais Hindou, the "Hindu Palace".
- The Egyptian government bought the palace in 2005, and it reopened after restoration in 2020.