Manial Palace is owned by Prince Mohammed Ali Tawfiq, one of the family members of Mohammed Ali Pasha and the Crown Prince of Egypt many times. He is the son of the Khedive Tawfiq, the younger brother of Khedive Abbas Helmy II, and the cousin of King Farouk of Egypt.
Prince Mohammed Ali built this palace in Manial to be the seat of his rule. He put the design of this palace by himself, what he documented on the slab placed on the gate.
Prince Mohammed Ali was famous for his love of antiquities, so he built this palace and dreamed to be turned it into a museum after his death.
The design of this palace:
The palace begins with a wall that resembles the walls of the castle. Then the mosque. It was built in 1933. It is divided into two parts and is characterized by its wonderful decorations. Then the clock tower, that its design was influenced by Moroccan architecture. As well, the wonderful garden that contains unique trees and plants.
In addition, there is the reception building. It consists of two floors and houses rooms decorated in different styles, such as the Levantine Hall and the Moroccan Hall, which was dedicated by Prince Mohammed Ali to receive his guests.
Also, there is the Hunting Museum. This museum displays the mummies of animals, birds, and reptiles hunted by Khedive Tawfiq and Prince Youssef Kamel.
Then the residential building, where the bedrooms, dining room, and office room. This building consists of two floors; on the second floor has three rooms.
Then the throne hall. It characterizes by the ceiling decorations that represent the sun disk with its golden rays. This hall contains many oil paintings of the rulers from the family of Mohammed Ali Pasha.
In this building, there is the Abison room was named so because its walls were covered with fabric Abison.
Then the summer salon, where they used to stay in the summer because its walls are covered with Iranian faience providing a cool atmosphere. Then the winter salon, where they used to stay in the winter because its walls were covered with wood to warm the climate.
This palace characterizes by Islamic decorations from different eras such as the Fatimid, Mamluk, Ottoman, and Andalusian, and different designs from countries such as Morocco and Turkey.