Royal Jewelry Museum

Royal Jewelry Museum

After a 5-year renovation process that has finally paid off, the Royal Jewelery Museum of Alexandria is reopened to tourists since April 2010. Housed in an exquisitely decorated villa that formerly belonged to king Farouk's first wife, the museum is a true gem, offering on display a great collection of glitzy artifacts that belonged to the excessive and extravagant Egyptian monarch and his family. You have to go there to see what excess really means; diamond-encrusted garden tools are only a foretaste!

The Royal Jewelry Museum in Alexandria, Egypt is located in the Zizinia neighborhood. It was once the palace of Fatma Al-Zahra' and is an architectural masterpiece. Its halls contain many rare paintings, statues and decorations. An inestimable collection of jewels of the Muhammad Ali Dynasty 19th century is also exhibited. The museum was inaugurated on October 24, 1986.

The museum houses major jewelry pieces and acquisitions of the Mohammad Ali dynasty, who ruled Egypt for about 150 years till the July 1952 Revolution. Following the Revolution, the remaining jewelry left over by the Royal Family were safe-kept until a decree by President Mubarak was issued in 1986 to assign Princess Fatima Al-Zahra' Palace in Alexandria as a special museum to house those pieces.

The Palace Design

The palace is in itself a masterpiece of fine architecture and art. Built in 1919 along European lines, It's surface area is 4,185-mē and it is surrounded by gardens.