Tahra Palace

Tahra Palace stands witness to a multitude of historical events: The Crown Prince of Iran, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, stayed in the palace for a couple of months during his engagement to Princess Fawzia, King Farouk's sister. The Palace was the bystander of long work sessions bringing together President Mohamed Naguib and President Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1954. Memorable enough, Tahra Palace opened its gates wide for the reception of the Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie in 1959, where he was awarded the Order of the Nile. During the run-up to the October 1973 War, there was an activity of a different kind at Tahra, where endless meetings were held in preparation for the war. Shah of Irans's widow occupied the premise in 1980. France's Prime Minister Lionel Jospin over-nighted at Tahra Palace.

The architectural genius of the Italian court architect Antonio Lasciac is accentuated in the impeccable design of Tahra Palace. Notwithstanding the small-scale, Tahra palace remains to be an unrivaled architectural marvel. Engulfed in exquisite gardens of a magnificent landscape blending the grandiosity of the building with the brilliant natural scenery. The Palace’s interior design and décor beams of hospitality and repose for visitors and residents alike. Artifacts and pieces of furniture radiate harmonious symmetry and pristine taste.
King Farouk bought Tahra Palace from his cousin Mohamed Taher Pacha for L.E 40,000 in 1939 to be a royal gift to Queen Farida. He embarked on extensive alterations to the Palace’s infrastructure and attached newly-purchased property to create a sizable mass. Interior décor was refurbished and gardens revamped. The ground floor was remodeled to receive the colossal unequalled ebonite billiard table. The table was a gift from the King of France, Louis Philippe to Mohammad Ali Pacha and was also left at Shubra Palace until King Farouk took it to Tahra. In 1941, At the backdrop of King Farouk’s divorce from Queen Farida, he repossessed Tahra Palace and established a prodigious wall to engulf the palace and gardens in a resemblance of “Saraya Al Qubba”.

The façade
Composed of four facades exemplary of the Italian Renaissance style and a gigantic alabaster gate resting on Romanian columns. Windows take miscellaneous shapes and patterns characteristic of every floor.

The ground floor
Hosts the quadrangular court pivoted on the staircase axis and the Arab Salon distinguished by a ceiling of wooden embossments depicting verses from the Holy Quran and encircled by Turkish and Persian motifs. The ground floor windows are enveloped by plunged columns.

The big salon
Boasts of Louis XIV style bearing French-style designs of baroque mirrors imminent on walls and doors. This salon overlooks the gardens and the main water fountain, where the majestic bronze statues soar high.

The main dining room
A beaming English-style piece encircled by 24 chairs that features a rare collection of plates. It is unique by the wood logs made of oak, covering the walls and ceiling cornices.

The main suite
Consists of two bedrooms with a small salon and a large bathroom conjoining them. The decorations of the walls, cornice, dome and hollow star is a collage of Oriental and Turkish styles. The European western style is evident in the marble statues and decorations on the pool. Moreover, there are five bedrooms with private bathrooms on the first floor and a tiny salon (compared to others) that serves as a waiting room for the office of the President.

The upper floor
Accessible via an Alabaster staircase featuring a gilded chandelier with shimmering crystals depicting legendary creatures with flowers above their heads. The chandelier was transported from Muhammad Ali Palace in Shubra to Tahra Palace upon an order from King Farouk, along with the other antiques and artifacts.

Tahra Palace remained the main place of King Farouk's gala nights, not his residence.

On Sunday, May 24, 2015, the Egyptian Gazette published a decree inscribing Tahra Palace and relevant annexes to historical monuments; pursuant to the decision of Ministry of Antiquities promulgating including Tahra Palace in the royal palaces register and the Islamic and Coptic monuments archive.