Cairo-Palaces-details

 

Amir Bashtak Palace

Bashtak Palace is one of the domestic households of the palatial period in the 14th century. Bashtak Palace also is an Islamic museum. It was built by Prince (Amir) Bashtak Al-Nasiri, one of the commanders of the Mamluk sultan, al-Nasir Muhammad ibn Qalawun, and the husband of one of his daughters, in 1334 – 1339 on the site of the Fatimid Eastern Palace (al-Qasr al-Sharqi).

The palace consists of three floors and a ground floor that has a stunning hall (Qa’a), stables, stores, and servant rooms. The second floor consists of bedrooms and a hall for celebrations and special occasions, and the last floor used to be a place for women, but it was demolished.

The palace is one of the Islamic architectures with a unique structure, especially the mashrabiyya screens on the windows, in addition to the stained-glass windows of the pointed arches on the second floor, with their gilded and painted wooden paneling.

The most attractive part of the palace is the courtyard that consists of four iwans with a wooden ceiling decorated with marvelous wooden Islamic ornaments, in addition to a colored marble fountain in the middle of the hall. 

In 2003, the Beshtak Palace were restored as a part Historic Cairo restoration project 

Bashtak Palace as a creativity center

Batak Palace is also home to the Arab Singing House, which is one of Cairo's creativity centers as the Egyptian Culture Ministry aimed at turning these historic palaces and houses into cultural centers to preserve and revive the Egyptian musical heritage.  

Arab singing House was inaugurated as a part of the Culture Ministry's plan to raise the intellectual and the cultural awareness of the Egyptians and to shed light on the area of Historic Cairo so it would both a touristic destination to know Cairo's great history and a cultural center to preserve the Egyptian singing history in particular and the Arab singing identity in general.

Address: located on Al Mo’ez li-Din Allah Street

Last Update: 2024