MAISON SUARES

Maison Suares stands like a ghost from Cairo’s belle époque—a proud, if weathered, testament to the city’s once-European flair.

Maison Suares always felt like it was guarding a secret. Built by the influential Jewish banking family, the Suares, in the early 20th century, the house mixes Moorish arches with Italianate balconies. There’s something poetic in its tall shutters, its elaborate cornices, its silent balconies overlooking chaos. 

The Suares family was a cornerstone of Egypt’s financial and social life during the 19th and early 20th centuries—instrumental in the establishment of Credit Foncier Egyptien, a pioneering financial institution that helped fund Egypt’s modernization projects. Their legacy reflects the multicultural fabric of Egypt’s golden age—where Jewish, Muslim, and Christian families often lived side by side, contributing to civic and economic progress. 

While sketching it, I imagined it alive again—filled with conversation, music, and layered accents from Cairo’s once-vast diaspora. This building holds memories of diversity, of dialogue, of a city that once embraced many faces.

Now, as it ages, I see it less as a relic and more as a reminder: Cairo’s true beauty is in its complexity.