Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Seen in Alexandria : The Spahi Palace on the go

First of all, I apologize for the lack of updates on the blog in the past couple of weeks. My mother had a surgery last week and I did not have time for anything else. 
Thank God, she is doing fine in her recovery now and I can take some time to update the blog. 
Tonight I share two very poor quality photos of the famous Spahi Palace of Alexandria I took while I was on the go in that Spring Break of last year. 

Spahi palace
The Spahi palace in Alexandria
Spahi Palace is probably from the last few standing palaces and villas along with Aziz Fahmy that overlook the Alexandrian corniche and the Mediterranean. 
Built in the late 1930s , that palace was the residence of the famous Egyptian-Syrian Spahi family. Originally that palace was owned by businessman and industrialist Syria-born Fadel Spahi who built the first and the biggest textile factory in Alexandria. 
Needless the Spahi family was nationalized in the 1960s. Soon enough the family packed their bags and some of them headed to the U.S and some to Switzerland. 
It seems that the palace was sold to several owners. 
The current owners want to demolish it and sell the land which worths billions now. 
The Spahi palace
The Spahi palace 
The heritage activists are trying to save this palace from a grim fate. The Neo-Islamic style palace is not listed an antiquity building in the ministry of antiquities or ministry of culture but it is considered an antiquity building in the records of Alexandria governorate. 
Personally, I believe that the Spahis who got a real estate investments empire in the States should return to Egypt and save their grandfather's beautiful palace turning it to some of a boutique hotel or cultural center before it is demolished. 
It is a good investment. 
I hope this palace survives that ugly modern urbanization taking place in Alexandria. 

3 comments:

  1. Where are you getting your information from?

    ReplyDelete
  2. This information is incorrect. The villa was built by Mustafa Spahi his, Fahheds father

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hat samir mustafa spahi eine tochter Namens Leila D.?

      Delete

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