GEZIRA PALACE

Commissioned by Khedive Ismail in 1869 to host Empress Eugénie of France during the Suez Canal inauguration, the Gezira Palace - Tucked on the leafy island of Zamalek - is a royal echo in stone and stucco, being Egypt’s grand gesture to the world—a show of modernity, opulence, and Eastern charm.

Designed in a neo-Moorish style with Ottoman flourishes, the palace once stood amid vast gardens, flanked by the Nile on all sides. Its gilded ceilings, Venetian mirrors, and sprawling halls were stages for diplomatic soirées, royal banquets, and whispers that shaped empires.

Today, the palace lives on as part of the Marriott Hotel, its grandeur slightly softened by time. But stand beneath its arches or glance at its coffered ceilings, and the past stirs.

Seeing this sketch, I want you to imagine gaslit corridors, operatic laughter, and orchestras tuning up beneath crystal chandeliers. French mingled with Arabic. Silk rustled like wind in palm fronds.

The Gezira Palace is a reminder that architecture can hold memory—that even repurposed spaces may still carry the weight of diplomacy, romance, and the grand theater of history.

I leave you now with [3] pieces, through which I covered the Behind the scenes of the making of this spread, remembeing the beautiful Gezira Palace!