The development project to transform Alexandria’s Montazah Palace and Gardens into a tourist hub has created much controversy among heritage professionals, architects, and city residents. But the recent soft opening of the site has perhaps assuaged some of these concerns, according to people interviewed during the event.

The plans build on a long history of changing uses of the site. After the 1952 Revolution, the Montazah Palace and Gardens, a residence of the former royal family, were opened to the public, and the former Haramlek and Salamlek palaces were converted into a hotel and casino. 

According to historian Mohamed Awad in his book Montazah, the Royal Palaces and Gardens, around 580 cabins were set up on the property’s beaches named Aida, Nefertiti, Cleopatra, and Semiramis. These are complemented by all kinds of water activities, from swimming to taking a boat to the nearby Nelson Island. The government also built the Palestine Hotel, which hosted a famous Arab Summit meeting in 1964. 

The Haramlek has also been used as an official guest house, and other recreational facilities were added to the property such as a sports club and marina. It hosted US president Jimmy Carter during his visit to Egypt in the 1970s, and the complex of palaces and gardens has been visited by celebrities and kings and queens, among them Queen Sofia of Spain and Queen Rania of Jordan.

When the Montazah Gardens were opened to the public in 1952, the beautiful Haramlek Palace was also opened until it joined the group of Egypt’s presidential palaces. The Salamlek was transformed into a five-star hotel with luxurious rooms and suites redolent of memories of the former royal family. There are luxurious antiques and chandeliers worthy of first-class guests, and it has a private beach, business centre, meeting rooms, gardens, and bazaars.

After the 25 January Revolution in 2011, several tourist facilities were established to serve park-goers, including restaurants, chalets, cafés, an integrated tourist centre, and playgrounds for children. However, the objections of some cabin owners sparked legal battles between them and the Montazah Tourism and Investment Company that managed the site. 

In 2013, some cabin tenants on the Aida and Cleopatra beaches failed to pay their rent. President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi ordered the comprehensive redevelopment of the area to create a new tourist destination, and the cabins were demolished. 

Some owners were devastated to see memories of their childhood years spent at the beaches perish under bulldozers, and this created concerns over the possible loss of Alexandria’s heritage. 

ROMANTIC STORIES: There is a romantic tale behind the establishment of the Montazah Palace. 

According to the story, during the reign of the khedive Abbas Helmi II in the late 19th century, the khedive was on one of his drives in Alexandria when he suddenly stopped and fell in love with the exceptional beauty of the palace site to the east of the city. 

In 1892, he bought the site and the adjacent area that extended over 370 acres so that he could create the vast Montazah Gardens. He used to go there with Hungarian countess May Torok von Szendro, whom he married when she converted to Islam and became princess Djavidan Hanem. 

Away from the teeming summer months in Cairo, the royal family would use the palace as a favourite getaway from public attention.

Inspired by Austrian hunting lodges, the Salamlek Palace was built by architect Dimitri Fabricius at the end of the 19th century. In 1927, king Fouad built the Haramlek Palace and the Royal Gardens. Inspired by the Florentine Renaissance and the Turkish taste evident in its two towers, the palace is considered one of the most beautiful architectural landmarks in Egypt and reminds many of the Egypt of the 19th and early 20th centuries. 

It is a mixture of styles from the Gothic to the classical, Byzantine, and Islamic. The interior decoration is dominated by floral and geometric ornamentation, and the furnishings are French antiques.

The Haramlek Palace, widely identified as the Montazah Palace, served as a royal family getaway for many years. It is built on an elevated plateau overlooking the Mediterranean Sea and is surrounded by Gardens, forests, and groves stretching over a 370-feddan area with a unique collage of Ottoman-Islamic and Florentine styles. 

There are also playgrounds, a children’s park, a summer theatre, and a centre for watersports.

When king Farouk came to throne in the 1930s, he built the famous Montazah clock. Whenever the clock struck, a soldier would appear from one of its sides. Farouk also built the Tea Pavilion and Bridge. He developed the famous greenhouses at the palace that house more than 300 kinds of exotic plants.

Montazah was immortalised by writers such as the English novelist E M Forster, who lived in Alexandria during World War I and wrote that “the best way of seeing it is to wander aimlessly about.” He commented on the “view of the circular bay with its fantastic promontories and breakwater” and the “beautiful walks in every direction and perfect bathing”.

The Montazah resort was later developed and managed by an Italian company and was designed by landscape architect Pietro Porcinai. Work on site was supervised by resident architect Pietro Verbinscak. 

LOSING HERITAGE: For architect May Al-Tabbakh, conserving our cultural heritage starts with understanding the nature of that heritage and its value historically, socially, and culturally. 

“For a long time, tangible cultural heritage has been purely a subject of debate between scholars, who would tackle the heritage aspect from a purely academic point of view, and decision-makers, whether the authorities and/or developers,” Al-Tabbakh, who has a MSc degree in sustainable heritage from University College London, told Al-Ahram Weekly. 

The Montazah Palace and Gardens are vital parts of the heritage of Alexandria, and it is one of the few green spaces left in this bustling city of eight million. “Regardless of the fact that the Montazah Palace and Gardens were the summer destination of royalty, the building and its architecture bear witness to cultural influences at the beginning of the 20th century,” Al-Tabbakh said. 

 “Similar architectural features and similar building techniques are to be found all over the Mediterranean, particularly in Italy. In addition to this, the palace has long been a landmark in Alexandria and would feature in advertisements attracting people to visit the city.”

“Even so, unfortunately, the palace is not open to the public as is the case in European cities where people can enjoy their heritage more and feel that it belongs to them.” Sometimes historical buildings can also be used as museums, Al-Tabbakh added. 

Many architects agree with her that the buildings that have recently been constructed at the site do not suit Montazah’s cultural heritage.

“When we see the odd designs that do not suit the heritage of Montazah, we must be really sad to see this breaking with cultural harmony,” said Fouad Touni, an architect who has been working in the field for 50 years. 

Touni referred to the five-star hotel that has been constructed where the cabins of the Aida and Cleopatra beaches once stood. The building is a five-storey one that has sadly blocked views of the Montazah Palace. 

“Anyone walking or driving on the Corniche won’t be able to see the Montazah Palace like they could before. No one can see the palace now. This new building has prevented it,” Touni said.

While some of the site needed renovation, especially the areas housing the rare plants and the Tea Bridge, some of the projects that have now been built should have followed the heritage features of the site better, he said. 

Touni remembers seeing the late singer and actress Shadia at the Montazah Palace in the 1950s filming one of her movies. “I remember we always used to go there as children to watch our favourite stars. I used to play in the park and enjoy the greenery. Montazah in a way was our own garden, and we felt that we should have a say in how to develop it and protect it,” he said.

Things started well when the management company responsible for the site started to raise cabin rents. “We all paid regularly, and we even paid the soaring rents that the company required up front,” said Tamer Riad, dean of the Arab Academy for Science, Technology, and Maritime Transport in Alexandria.

He bought a cabin in 2006 for LE600,000, an amount which could have bought a house in an upper-class neighbourhood in Cairo. 

Riad said that one night he learned that his cabin had been demolished without notice. “We heard the news on TV even though we had just paid the soaring rent that year,” he told the Weekly. He said that the company should have given the owners notice. Like the rest of the former cabin owners, Riad’s main loss lies in lost memories.

SOFT OPENING: “Two years ago, anyone passing by the Montazah Gardens would have seen the place buried in dust, fallen trees and wreckage,” said Mohamed Mahmoud, a 33-year-old accountant who is a regular visitor to the Montazah Gardens. 

However, when Mahmoud visited the gardens two months ago, the renovation process was in its final stages. He visited the new lakes area where he enjoyed the scenery that overlooks the Salamlek Palace. 

Fatima Darwish, one of the former cabin owners, wonders if this will still be the case when the official reopening takes place after the soft opening. She and her family have been devastated by the fact that her childhood memories of the area are now gone. She and her mother were longing to see the development of the Montazah Gardens and to visit the beaches. 

Darwish does not want to speak about the past as much as she wants to see Montazah as beautiful as it was before. “I belong here. My past is here. So is my present and my future. Montazah to me is a place that I fully and wholly belong to. I love sitting under the long palm trees. I love setting up a barbecue with my family. I love looking at the grandeur of the Haramlek and Salamlek Palaces. It is a place that is forever in my heart and my mother’s heart,” she added. 

The soft opening of the Montazah Gardens has allowed park-goers to visit the site. A 30-year-old mother who was enjoying the weather with her two children said that “I love it here. My kids are playing safely, and we are greatly enjoying the lakes.” 

Though not a regular visitor, Sherine Mohamed was keen to have her kids play in the gardens and enjoy riding their bicycles. “Since we do not have enough green spaces and public areas in Alexandria, I see the Montazah Gardens as the perfect space for fresh air and kids,” she added. 

During the soft opening, many families were gathered in the Montazah Gardens to enjoy nature and treat themselves to a picnic. “Going for a picnic is one of the best things about spring. Enjoying outdoor activities or just sitting under the shade of the trees is an ultimate blessing,” said Soad Abdel-Ghaffar, a 30-year-old Yemeni visitor. 

“When we heard that the Montazah Gardens were reopening for visitors, we came all the way from Cairo to enjoy a two-day visit to Alexandria. We have seen Montazah in old Egyptian films, and we have become very attached to these places and these memories of Arab cinema,” added Abdel-Ghaffar, who was relaxing on a blanket. 

She added that she was planning to visit the Tea Bridge and the Salamlek Palace if it is open for visitors. 

Restoring the Gardens: One of the most exceptional features of the Montazah Palace is the gardens, which were planted by king Farouk.  

They comprise a unique collection of trees and flowers. The development project that includes the preservation of these one-of-a-kind plants, not to mention the extension of the green spaces, is one of the main pillars of the government’s ambitious renovation plan for the site that uses modern irrigation systems.

The gardens are also the most expansive green area in Alexandria today. They extend over 150 acres and are open to the public as a landscape park and forest reserve.

The Irrigation Ministry has also started implementing a LE75 million project to restore older structures including the sea wall, lighthouse, and bridge. The construction of the lighthouse and the bridge dates back to 1926, and today people take wedding photos there. 

Among the projects that will guarantee the protection of marine life is the first integrated marine project run by the Egyptian Authority for Coastal Protection at the Ministry of Water Resources and Irrigation since 2021. New concrete blocks will be installed to reinforce the sea wall as part of work within the framework of the Montazah Gardens development project.

Restoration work will be carried out at the Salamlek Palace and its unique Andalusian courtyard, which will be used as a hotel. There is also a plan to establish a Royal Train Museum.

The plans include the establishment of several commercial and entertainment facilities. As a way to attract tourists, new facilities will be created for yachts, stimulating maritime tourism.

* A version of this article appears in print in the 22 June, 2023 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly