Gezirah Palace

The Gezirah Palace was one of the Egyptian royal palaces of the Muhammad Ali Dynasty. It is located in the Zamalek district on Gezira Island in the Nile, just west of Downtown Cairo.

Ghezireh Palace, Zamalek district, Gezira Island, Cairo (1906 - as Hotel)
Pavilion du Gezirah Palace Hôtel

History

The Gezirah Palace, designed by Carl von Diebitsch c. 1868, was commissioned by Khedive Ismail for entertaining visiting international dignitaries during the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869.


It was sold to Paul Draneht and Commander Oblieght in 1889, and converted by the Compagnie Internationale des Grands Hotels into The Ghezireh Palace Hotel in October 1894. During World War I it was put into service as the No.2 Australian General Hospital, after the Mena House was unable to cope with the huge number of casualties from the Battle of Gallipoli.

Draneht Pasha

Present day

The Gezirah Palace is currently the central part of the Cairo Marriott Hotel complex, between the hotel's pair of towers, on Gezira Island north of the 6th October Bridge.


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