Baron Empain Palace

Edouard Empain, the Belgian industrialist who built the Cairo suburb of Heliopolis and its tram network, had this villa put up between 1907 and 1911 to a design by Alexandre Marcel that borrows directly from Hindu and Khmer temple architecture, with tiered towers, elephants, snakes and dancing figures crowded onto every surface. It was built in reinforced concrete, unusual for the date, and the tower was said to rotate on rails so the baron could follow the sun. After decades of dereliction and a long run of ghost stories that made it a local legend, the state restored it and opened it to the public in 2020 as an exhibition space on the history of Heliopolis. The interiors are largely stripped, so the building itself and its extraordinary exterior carving are the substance of a visit.

What you actually see

• Temple-style carved facades - elephants, serpents and dancers in concrete.
• The tiered tower - the element that gave rise to the rotating-house story.
• The Heliopolis exhibition - photographs and plans of the suburb Empain built.
• Early reinforced concrete - a 1911 structure using a then-novel material.

When to go

October to April. Late afternoon light picks out the carving best. Evenings are floodlit and the building is sometimes open late. One to two hours. Weekends bring Cairene families rather than tour groups.

Honest expectations

The interiors are empty shells with modern display panels, so do not expect furnished rooms. The restoration is smooth and some of the weathered character has gone with it. Heliopolis is a long way out of central Cairo in traffic. The ghost stories are the main thing local guides will tell you and they are stories.

Nearby

The Basilica of Heliopolis is a short walk; the Obelisk of Heliopolis is a few kilometres away.