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.

History

The Belgian industrialist Baron Édouard Empain came to Egypt in 1904 to expand his business and build railways, and from 1906 the architect Ernest Jaspar helped him create the "Heliopolis style" for the new suburb, mixing Persian elements with European neoclassicism; Heliopolis, with its hospitals, restaurants, banks and shops, became a cultural centre attracting people from around the world. Empain lived in the Hindu-temple-style palace with his wife and sons, and rumours about his family, and legends that someone took their own life inside, later made it famous as a haunted house. After the baron's death in 1929 the palace was eventually left abandoned. The government acquired it in 2005 for the centenary of Heliopolis, it was classified as a historical monument in March 2007, an agreement with the Belgian government in 2012 provided for its joint restoration as an art and cultural centre, and work on the first phase began at the end of November 2016 (Wikipedia, Baron Empain Palace).

What to look for

• 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.

Things to know

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.

Key facts